Simon Goldblatt

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Simon Goldblatt QC (born December 1928 - 2nd November 2021), is a British Barrister and was a Liberal Party politician.

Background[]

Simon was born in 1928.

Professional career[]

He was called to the Bar in 1953. He joined chambers soon thereafter. He took silk in 1972 (having effectively been positively invited to do so by the appellate committee of the House of Lords, one of whose members had commented in one case that they “took it most ill that submissions of that calibre come otherwise than from the front bench”).

He was head of chambers from 1983 until 1986, when John Dyson took over. He has practised here ever since – subject only, that is, to occasional stints as a Deputy High Court Judge (when he had a tendency to find alternative paths to correct jurisprudence to those presented to him by counsel); and, more regularly than that, to being tempted away for his three great passions: foreign travel; philately; and porcelain. He was still attending chambers daily, right up to his final decline, a couple of weeks ago.

Simon was a legendary figure in chambers. He was, notoriously, the cleverest member of chambers that there had ever been; and he was just as well known for his old-fashioned courtesy, which was presented with a tangible twinkle as well as a smile. In combination, these two qualities – his intelligence and his charm – meant that he was a spirited and highly engaging conversationalist for all around him, whoever they might be.

One (daily) party trick was to do the Times crossword without filling in any of the answers, and then, from memory, to write the whole thing out, including the grid, on a blank piece of paper. Indeed blank sheets of paper seem to have played a regular part in his demonstrations of prowess: John Dyson QC spoke of how his intellectual brilliance had always been on display.

“He led Edwin in a case against me in front of John Newey. The judge asked how long his opening would take. He replied by showing him and the rest of us a blank piece of paper which he said contained his notes for his opening speech. He then delivered a brilliant opening (without a note) referring to the key documents, etc. This was not intended to intimidate (although it did!). He enjoyed his intellectual gifts and wanted to share them with others.” [1]

Political career[]

He was President of the West Midlands Young Liberals Federation. He was a Member of the Liberal Party Council.[1] He was Liberal candidate for the Rugby division of Warwickshire at the 1959 General Election. He was Liberal candidate again for Rugby at the 1964 General Election. He was Liberal candidate for the Twickenham division of Middlesex at the 1966 General Election. He did not stand for parliament again.[2]

Election results[]

General Election 1959:Rugby[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Roy Wise 17,429 42.6 -4.0
Labour James Johnson 16,959 41.4 -8.7
Liberal Simon Goldblatt 6,413 15.7 N/A
Independent Archibald S. Frost 142 0.4 N/A
Majority 470 1.2 -2.3
Turnout 40,924 85.6 +0.2
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General Election 1964:Rugby[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alfred Roy Wise 19,221 45.1 +2.5
Labour David H. Childs 17,532 41.2 -0.2
Liberal Simon Goldblatt 5,522 13.0 -2.7
Social Credit Party Archibald S. Frost 304 0.7 N/A
Majority 1,689 4.0 +2.8
Turnout 42,580 84.6 -1.0
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1966: Twickenham[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Roger Gresham Cooke 26,512 47.7
Labour David Carlton 18,884 34.0
Liberal Simon Goldblatt 10,160 18.3
Majority 7,628 13.7
Turnout 55,556 78.6
Conservative hold Swing

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ The Times House of Commons, 1959
  2. ^ British parliamentary election results 1950-1973, Craig, F.W.S.
  3. ^ British parliamentary election results 1950-1973, Craig, F.W.S.
  4. ^ British parliamentary election results 1950-1973, Craig, F.W.S.
  5. ^ British parliamentary election results 1950-1973, Craig, F.W.S.
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