A SILENT M.P.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XVII, Issue 1714, 19 August 1922, Page 5

A SILENT M.P.

"SILENCE MORE EFFECTIVE." NO SPEECH DURING 22 YEARS. There is a member of the House of Commons who has been able to write M.P. after his name for 22 years, and has not yet made his maiden speech, says the London Evening News. He is Mr John Hope, who sits as a Coalition Liberal for Berwick and Haddington. "Why don't I speak in the House?" echoed Mr Hope when asked the question. "Well, I have found that I can do more by not talking. When I entered the House first of all I had no idea of never making a speech. But time went on and the maiden speech was still undelivered —although I have been tempted to do it more than once, and friends have urged me to break the record—and now I am afraid it never will be delivered." The secret of his prolonged silence is that when Mr Hope wants some information, or desires to get something done, he goes direct to the responsible Minister. As a popular and genial man, who does not attempt to browbeat Ministers across the floor of the house, he is received with sympathy and generally obtains satisfaction, if it is possible. And so Mr Hope goes on being successfully spent.