Norman Dodds

The Labour Party campaign centre and headquarters building in Northumberland Heath is named "Norman Dodds House" in honour of the former MP.

[3] During the Second World War, Dodds joined the Home Guard[6] where he had commissioned rank and served in the East End of London during The Blitz.

[4] As the war came to an end, the Government invited the Boundary Commission to divide the abnormally large constituencies; one of them was the Dartford division of Kent, which had a 1939 electorate of 134,935.

The delegation received the invitation to Greece from General Othoneos, who was then the president of the Greek Union of Democratic Associations, to come as guests of his organisation.

[18] In February 1949, Dartford Conservative Association selected Margaret Roberts, then a 23-year-old research chemist at BX Plastics of Manningtree,[19] as their candidate for the forthcoming general election.

Dodds pointed to the relatively small number of people who were directed, and invited Roberts to a public meeting at which he would tell her what had happened on Tyneside and Wearside between the wars (she declined due to prior engagements).

"[23] When the election was called for 23 February 1950, Dodds campaigned strongly, even using a helicopter to advertise, and played on his local standing, as he was President of Dartford Football Club.

[27] Dodds had the distinction of submitting the first question in the new Parliament; he asked the Prime Minister to call a conference to find ways of outlawing the hydrogen bomb and atomic weapons.

[2] As the Government had a small majority, MPs were pressed to attend at all times; on 19 March 1951 Dodds attracted some attention when he came to Parliament with pyjamas, a pillow and a car rug, allowing him to catch some sleep during all-night sittings.

[30] Speaking at a summer fete in his constituency on 18 August 1951, Dodds disclosed that the Cabinet was split on the issue of whether to hold a general election that October or whether to wait until June 1952.

She succeeded in reducing his majority by 1,304 to 12,334; in his victory speech Dodds congratulated Roberts on her engagement to Denis Thatcher and wished them good fortune.