'A Radical Lawyer': John Walton, M.P.

Spy depicts John Walton — Liberal M.P. and barrister — seated at a cluttered desk, quill in hand, writing with brisk purpose. He wears full court dress: black silk gown, white bands, and the curled grey wig that marked English barristers of the period. The caption, 'a Radical lawyer,' signals his politics with the magazine's habitual light irony; Walton was a prominent advocate of progressive causes and trade-union interests at the Bar. The caricature exaggerates his sharp, forward-jutting profile and compact frame. The cluttered papers and tied briefs behind him underline professional industry.