Bill Holmes (trade unionist)
William Holmes trade unionist and Labour Party politician.
Holmes was born in
National Union of Gas Workers and General Labourers.[3]
In 1905, Holmes was elected to
National Union of Agricultural Workers (NUAW). Five years later, he was elected to the union's executive.[2]
Holmes became prominent in the Labour Party and was appointed as one of its first two National Organisers in 1913.[5] He stood unsuccessfully for the party in the 1920 Horncastle by-election and in Stafford at the 1922 United Kingdom general election.[3] He continued in the post even though that year he was elected as President of the NUAW, but stood down in 1928 to become the union's General Secretary.[2]
Established as the leading figure in the union, Holmes tried twice more to gain election to Parliament, in
Holmes retired from his union posts in 1944.[1] In retirement, he served on the Local Government Boundary Commission.[7]
References
- ^ a b "Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party" (1962), p.38
- ^ a b c d e Claire V. J. Griffiths, Labour and the Countryside: The Politics of Rural Britain 1918-1939, pp.359-360
- ^ Glasgow Herald, 28 September 1939, p.3
- ^ Reginald Groves, Sharpen the sickle!, p.103
- ^ Claire V. J. Griffiths, Labour and the Countryside: The Politics of Rural Britain 1918-1939, p.113
- ^ "No. 35029". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1940. p. 12.
- ^ John Joseph Clarke, A History of Local Government of the United Kingdom, p.212