Eric Bullus

Sir Eric Bullus
Member of Parliament for Wembley North
In office 1950 – February 1974
Preceded by	Charles Hobson
Personal details
Born	Eric Edward Bullus (1906-11-20)20 November 1906 Peterborough, England
Died	31 August 2001(2001-08-31) (aged 94)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Joan Denny ​ ​ (m. 1949; died 1993)​
Children	2

Sir Eric Edward Bullus (20 November 1906 – 31 August 2001) was a British Conservative politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Wembley North from 1950 until the constituency was abolished by boundary changes for the February 1974 general election.

Early life[]

Although Bullus was born in Peterborough, his mother's home town, he grew up in Leeds. He was educated at Leeds Modern School and the University of Leeds.^[1]

Career[]

At the age of twenty, Bullus joined the right-of-centre newspaper the Yorkshire Post, for which he wrote for more than twenty years.^[1][2] He also joined the Junior Imperial League, the youth wing of the Conservative Party. He was elected to Leeds City Council in 1930. Five years later he became the Tory whip; he also held the chair of the Libraries and Arts Committee, founding a series of lunchtime concerts.^[1]

When the Second World War began, Bullus was thirty-three years old. Too old for active service, in August 1940 he was commissioned as a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF) Volunteer Reserve. He served at the Air Ministry until 1943,^[1] when he was promoted to the rank of flight lieutenant and transferred to southeast Asia to join Lord Mountbatten's staff.^[2] Despite eventually reaching the rank of wing commander, he never flew a plane, and was demobilised in December 1945.^[1]

Member of Parliament[]

Bullus was elected to the House of Commons in 1950 as MP for the constituency of Wembley North.^[2] He introduced the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill, which aimed to reinstate flogging as a punishment for violent and armed robbery (a punishment that had been abolished by the Criminal Justice Act 1948^[3]), as well as for wounding and rape, in 1952, and it was debated in early 1953.^[4] After the Home Secretary expressed opposition, the second reading of the bill was defeated in a free vote by a majority of 96.^[5] Bullus became the secretary of the Conservative backbenchers' 1922 Committee in 1953, and later served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to several ministers.^[2]

Bullus was a passionate eurosceptic. He strongly opposed Britain's entry into the European Communities and voted against party orders in favour of a referendum on the issue. However, his loyalty to the government led him to support the European Communities Act 1972 despite this.^[2]

Bullus was knighted in December 1964 as part of Alec Douglas-Home's dissolution honours list, for "political and public services".^[1][6]

Personal life[]

Bullus was a member of the Church of England and a committed Christian. At home, he was a lay reader, preaching nearly one thousand sermons during his life,^[2] and while serving in Delhi during World War II he was a member of the arch-deaconry council. He also enjoyed sport, taking part in swimming, rugby and cricket, including playing for the Lords and Commons cricket team.^[1]

In 1949 he married Joan Denny, with whom he had two daughters. Joan died in 1993 after a marriage of fifty-two years.^[2] Bullus died in 2001, survived by both his children.^[1]

Notes[]

External links[]

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs