| Before the age of television small political meetings
especially at election time were a common occurance. In Manchester the
favourite venues were Platt Fields, Boggart Hole Clough, outside Alexandra
Park gates, and Stevenson Square in the city centre. It appears that Chorlton
Green was used on occasions. Probably one of the last times was by Oswald
Moseley in a Parliamentary bye-election for the Moss Side Constituency
- 7 November 1961. Chorlton-cum-Hardy was part of this constituency from
1950 - 1982, and the bye-election was contested by the major parties as
well the right-wing Union Movement. To support their candidate, William
Hesketh, Sir Oswald Moseley spoke from the back of an lorry. Apparently
he was very good at dealing with hecklers. However they only managed to
scrape 1212 votes (5.2%).
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| In 1924 the Labour Party contested this area for the first time. Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Whalley Range were then in Withington Constituency. Although they lost their deposit it obviously didn't dishearten them for in the next Parliamentary contest in 1929 they chose Dr. Joseph Robinson, a medical man from Stretford who with their agent James Hennessey ran a very active campaign. The leaflets of the time (archived in Manchester Central Reference Library) promote a whole series of meetings in schools and church halls for virtually every evening. Several were held on Chorlton Green, plus another open-air meeting at Chorlton tram terminus at the top of Beech Road. |
| Other speakers on Chorlton Green generally at Council Election time, which was always the 1st November (except if it was a Sunday). These included Shena Simon, possibly Chorlton's most famous Councillor when she was in the Liberal Party - Satrday 22 October 1927. After the war the Labour League of Youth held some open-air meetings with speakers on different topics. It is possible that the famous 'Clarion Van', speading the ideas of socialism, came to the Green on its summmer tours of Cheshire and Lancashire (c.1896 - 1910 ). |