Sir Leonard Benjamin Franklin OBE (15 November 1862 – 11 December 1944)[1] was an English barrister, banker and Liberal Party politician, of Jewish descent.
[11] He served as honorary treasurer of the London Radical Candidates' Association, taking a particular interest housing and traffic.
He did not win the seat but he reduced the majority of the sitting Unionist Member of Parliament, Arthur Strauss from 893 to 598 votes.
[13] He fought the seat again at the 1918 general election but this time, as a supporter of the Independent Asquithian Liberals he was not favoured with the Coalition coupon and lost his deposit.
At this election the former Tory MP, Arthur Strauss, had switched parties and was standing as an Independent Labour candidate.
[14] At the 1922 general election, Franklin fought St Pancras South East constituency but in a three-cornered contest with Conservative and Labour opponents, he came bottom of the poll.
[18] Much of the social work which Franklin undertook was based in the Jewish community in London[2] and he also held positions in respect of various synagogues.