Name Charles Curran Role British Politician | Died September 16, 1972 | |
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Leslie Charles Curran (1903 – 16 September 1972) was a British Conservative Party politician. The son of C. J. Curran, and educated at Cardiff High School and Stonyhurst, Curran was a member of the editorial staff of the Evening Express, before becoming a barrister of Gray's Inn. Curran was Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge from 1959 to 1966, when he lost to Labour. Curran regained the seat in 1970, holding it until he died in 1972. Michael Shersby was elected to succeed him in the subsequent by-election.
Curran is probably most remembered for a speech he made in the House on June 19, 1964, in which he mistook deliberately nonsensical poems written by John Lennon that had been published in the United States and the UK, as a sign of Lennon being illiterate. His parliamentary colleague Norman Miscampbell tried to walk back on Curran's comments, feeling that such a statement would be disastrous for the Conservative Party in the upcoming elections that year.
Curran was married to Mona Regan, and had one son. He died in Nicosia, Cyprus on 16 September 1972.