Desmond Donnelly

Desmond Louis Donnelly (16 October 1920 – 3 April 1974) was a British politician, author and journalist who was a member of four different political parties during the course of his career, and moved between parties on five occasions.

Donnelly, whose ancestry was Irish, was born in Sibsagar, Assam, India, where his father was a tea planter; his mother was English and descended from a member of the Indian Civil Service. In 1928 he was the first of his family to return to Britain for his schooling in a century (accompanied by his mother; they lost contact with his father); he went to Brightlands School, Newnham-on-Severn, Gloucestershire. Later he attended Bembridge School (a public school) on the Isle of Wight. He first joined the Labour Party in 1936 after becoming interested in the ideas of William Morris.

He did not go to university. As a keen sportsman, Donnelly became secretary of the London Grasshoppers Rugby Club on leaving school and while working as an office boy. At the age of 17 he set up the 'British Empire Cricket XI' which continued through the war years, supporting cricket, and raising funds for the Duke of Gloucester's Red Cross and the St John fund. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force in 1939 and served as a Flying Officer with Bomber Command. Later he joined the 'Desert Air Force' in the North African Campaign and Italy where he rose to the rank of Flight Lieutenant.

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