Maurice Edelman

Israel Maurice Edelman (2 March 1911 – 14 December 1975) was a British Labour Party politician, journalist, and novelist from Wales who represented Coventry constituencies in the House of Commons for over 30 years, from 1945 until his death.

Early life

Maurice Edelman was born to a Jewish family in Cardiff in 1911. His parents had come to Wales seven years earlier, escaping the pogroms in Tsarist Russia. His father was a photographer. He was educated at Cardiff High School His novels include A Trial of Love (1951), Who Goes Home? (1953), A Dream of Treason (1954), The Happy Ones (1957), A Call on Kuprim (1959), The Minister (1961), The Fratricides (1963), The Prime Minister's Daughter (1964), All on a Summer's Night (1969), Disraeli In Love (1972) and Disraeli Rising (1975).

C.P. Snow credited Edelman as helping him research his 1964 political novel Corridors of Power.

Political career

At the 1945 election Edelman was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry West. He was also president of the Anglo-Jewish Association, and an active member of the Friends of the Hebrew University.

Following further boundary changes in 1974, Edelman represented Coventry North West until his death, from an embolism, at Royal Brompton Hospital on 14 December 1975. His successor was Geoffrey Robinson, who won a by-election on 4 March 1976.