John Wadsworth

John Wadsworth MP, circa 1906

John Wadsworth (1850 – 10 July 1921) was a British trade unionist and Liberal or Lib-Lab politician.

Born in West Melton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Wadsworth worked as a coal miner and was elected checkweighman. He joined the Yorkshire Miners Association, a constituent part of the Miners Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), rising to become the Yorkshire Association's General Secretary, then in 1904 its President.

Wadsworth was elected as the Lib-Lab Member of Parliament for Hallamshire at the 1906 general election.

General Election 1906: Hallamshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Wadsworth	8,375	55.2
	Conservative	Frederic Kelley	6,807	44.8
Majority			1,568	10.4
Turnout				83.9
	Liberal hold		Swing

In 1909, with the other MFGB-sponsored MPs, he joined the Labour Party, retaining his seat in his new colours.

General Election January 1910: Hallamshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Wadsworth	10,193	62.2
	Conservative	Thomas Sutton Timmis	6,185	37.8
Majority			4,008	24.4
Turnout				82.2
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election December 1910: Hallamshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Wadsworth	8,708	59.9
	Conservative	David Thurston Smith	5,837	40.1
Majority			2,871	19.8
Turnout				73.0
	Labour hold		Swing

In 1915 he resigned the Labour whip and re-joined the Liberals.^[1] He continued as MP until the seat's abolition for the 1918 general election.

References

1. The history of the Liberal Party, 1895-1970 by Roy Douglas (1971) [page 355]

• Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, Who's Who of British MPs: Volume II, 1886–1918

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Wadsworth