Background
In 1912 he married Dorothy, daughter of George Lansbury, leader of the Labour Party in the 1930s.
In 1912 he married Dorothy, daughter of George Lansbury, leader of the Labour Party in the 1930s.
Thurtle worked as an accountant and salesman. He saw service in the army in World War I and was badly wounded at the Battle of Cambrai. With over 300 British soldiers shot by firing squad after brief trials during the First World War, Thurtle first introduced the measure for abolition in 1924, which became Labour party policy in 1925 and eventually approved by the House of Commons by the Labour government in 1930.
Supporters of the measure included T East Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) but the abolition was rejected at first by the House of Lords who were encouraged in their resistance by various retired generals including Lord Allenby.
The House of Commons insisted and the measure was enacted. The argument that it would reduce the determination of the soldiers was countered by the fact that the Australians had always made it clear when they joined the war effort, that none of their men were to be executed for these crimes.
Number Australians were shot for cowardice or desertion and yet it was clear that their troops had been as effective as any others in the war. Thurtle continued to be involved in ex-servicemen"s associations.
At the Labour Party conference in 1923 Thurtle supported two motions about Republicanism in the United Kingdom.
The first stated "that the Royal Family is no longer a necessary party of the British constitution", and the second was "that the hereditary principle in the British Constitution be abolished"
Thurtle was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Pensions in 1924, a Labour whip 1930-1931 and a junior minister at the Ministry of Information from 1941 to 1945. He was also a journalist and author
33rd United Kingdom Parliament. 34th United Kingdom Parliament. 35th United Kingdom Parliament.
37th United Kingdom Parliament.
38th United Kingdom Parliament. 39th United Kingdom Parliament.
40th United Kingdom Parliament]
Thurtle contested South West Bethnal Green and Shoreditch without success, and was Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for Shoreditch, London from 1923-1931 and 1935-1950, then Shoreditch and Finsbury from 1950 until his death.