Lives in Cricket No 15 - Michael Falcon

election. Principles were put before everything else, and the candidates ... were given fair hearings and, although pointed questions were frequently put to them, questioners, if not satisfied with the answers returned, did not openly show their disappointment.’ On 15 November, the day of polling, Captain Falcon was as energetic as in the 1918 election, visiting 32 polling stations in the large rural constituency. Counting took place in the Norwich Shirehall on the following day and the figures were formally announced by the High Sheriff, Mr E.G.Buxton. The result was declared shortly before 4.00pm and was as follows: Captain M.Falcon (Conservative) 9,270 H.M.Seely (Liberal) 8,962 G.Hewitt (Labour) 4,361 Majority 308 Thus Captain Falcon was narrowly re-elected MP for East Norfolk. It was agreed by all the candidates that the contest was very fairly conducted, that they were all given a fair hearing and that principles were put before anything else. Falcon Unseated, 1923 In March 1923, Captain Falcon visited the Town Hall at Loddon for a meeting chaired by Mr C.R.Cadge, who, referring to a letter written to the Eastern Daily Press which expressed the opinion that Falcon did not speak often enough in the House of Commons, and claimed that the MP had had no luck ‘catching the speaker’s eye’ on numerous occasions. In truth, the bear pit that was the floor of the House was not a natural hunting ground for a man described in Lemmon and Smith’s Votes For Cricket as ‘quiet and modest’. Although Captain Falcon had made numerous speeches in 1919, mostly concerned with the provision of training for ex-soldiers and the problems of agriculture, his appearances in Hansard dropped away sharply in the following years. That he was all too aware of this is evidenced by his commencing a speech in 1922 with the words, ‘As one who seldom intervenes in debate … ’. Hansard shows that in his five years as an MP he spoke on just twenty-two occasions in the chamber. The East Norfolk Conservative Association opened its annual meeting in May 1923 with an expression of appreciation of Captain 50 At Westminster