W. C. Steadman

William Charles Steadman MP, circa 1900

William Charles Steadman (12 July 1851 – 20 July 1911), usually known as W. C. Steadman, was a prominent trade unionist and Liberal or Lib-Lab politician.

Life

Born in Poplar, London, Steadman began work at the age of eight, and in 1866 became a barge builder. In 1873, he joined the River Thames Barge Builders Trades Union, becoming its general secretary in 1879 and holding the post until 1908. In 1890, he led a successful eighteen week strike, raising his profile.

Stepney in the Metropolitan area, showing boundaries used from 1885 to 1918.

In 1892, Steadman was elected as a Progressive Party member of London County Council, representing Stepney. In the 1892 general election he unsuccessfully stood as the Liberal Party candidate for Mid Kent; he lost again in the 1895 election in Hammersmith.

He joined the Fabian Society. Steadman was finally elected as a Lib–Lab Member of Parliament (MP) for Stepney at the March by-election in 1898 which took place because of the death of F. W. Isaacson in February, who had held the seat since 1896.^[1]

This meant that he now represented Stepney both in Parliament and on the London County Council, having been re-elected there in elections in 1895 and 1898. In 1899, he was elected to the Parliamentary Committee (later the General Council) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), and in 1902 he was its President. Steadman lost his seat in Parliament at the 1900 general election to Major William Evans-Gordon.^[2]

He continued to represent Stepney on the LCC, being re-elected there in 1901 and 1904. He went on to chair the first conference of the Labour Representation Committee, but left the organisation when asked to leave the Liberal Party. In 1904, he was elected as the Parliamentary Secretary of the TUC, the post which later became the General Secretary.

Finsbury Central in the Metropolitan area, showing boundaries used from 1885 to 1918.

In 1906, Steadman again stood for the Liberal Party, and won Finsbury Central.

He lost the seat in the January 1910 general election.

In 1911, he announced his intention to stand down from his TUC post, but died, aged 60, before this could take effect.

Election results

1895 General Election: Hammersmith
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Tuckfield Goldsworthy	5,017	60.8	6.7
	Lib-Lab	William Charles Steadman	3,238	39.2	-6.7
Majority			1,779
Turnout			12,378	66.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stepney by-election, 1898
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Lib-Lab	William Charles Steadman	2,492	50.2
	Conservative	Major William Eden Evans-Gordon	2,472	49.8
Majority			20	0.4
Turnout			6,387	77.7
	Lib-Lab gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.8

General Election 1900: Tower Hamlets, Stepney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Major William Eden Evans-Gordon	2,783	61.8
	Lib-Lab	William Charles Steadman	1,718	38.2
Majority			1,065	23.6
Turnout			5,878	76.6
	Conservative gain from Lib-Lab		Swing	+12.0

General Election 1906: Finsbury, Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Lib-Lab	William Charles Steadman	3,493	55.5
	Conservative	Edward Alfred Goulding	2,799	44.5
Majority			694	11.0
Turnout			8,279	76.0
	Lib-Lab gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.7

General Election January 1910: Finsbury, Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Martin Archer-Shee	3,559	52.8
	Lib-Lab	William Charles Steadman	3,187	47.2
Majority			372	5.6
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Lib-Lab		Swing	+8.3

References

1. The Liberal Year Book for 1905. London: The Liberal Publication Dept. (in association with the National Liberal Federation and the Liberal Central Association). 1905. pp. 302–3. Steadman won by just 20 votes, beating the Conservative candidate William Evans-Gordon who finally gained the seat in 1900.
2. Liberal Year Book 1905, p. 302-3.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by William Steadman