F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead this income even after he took less well-paid government positions in later years, something of which he would bitterly complain. In one of the best-known cases in which Smith was involved he successfully defended Ethel le Neve, mistress of Hawley Harvey Crippen ("Dr Crippen") against a charge of murder. Le Neve was accused of killing Crippen's wife. Crippen was tried separately and convicted. Smith twice unsuccessfully stood for Parliament in Liverpool, for Scotland division in a by-election in 1903, and for Walton division in 1905 before he entered the House of Commons representing Walton in 1906. He attracted attention by
Hawley Harvey Crippen by Chief Inspector Walter Dew. Crippen admitted that he had fabricated the story about his wife having died and explained that he had made it up in order to avoid any personal embarrassment because she had in fact left him and fled to America with one of her lovers, a music hall actor named Bruce Miller. After the interview (and a quick search of the house), Dew was satisfied with Crippen's story. However, Crippen and Le Neve did not know this and fled in panic to Brussels, where they spent the night at a hotel. The following day, they went