Albert Arthur "Alf" Purcell (3 November 1872,

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. It li ...

– 24 December 1935) was a British

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

ist and Labour Party politician. He was a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and later President of the

International Federation of Trade Unions The International Federation of Trade Unions (also known as the Amsterdam International) was an international organization of trade unions, existing between 1919 and 1945. IFTU had its roots in the pre-war IFTU. IFTU had close links to the Labou ...

from 1924 to 1928 and sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

during two separate periods between 1923 and 1929.

Early life

The son of a

French polisher French polishing is a wood finishing technique that results in a very high gloss surface, with a deep colour and chatoyancy. French polishing consists of applying many thin coats of shellac dissolved in denatured alcohol using a rubbing pad lubri ...

, Purcell lived in East London until he moved with his family to

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

at an early age. He was educated at elementary school in

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of ...

but at the age of nine started work part-time in a local

woolen mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods s ...

. The family returned to

in 1890, and he was a taken on as an apprentice French polisher. He joined the London French Polishers' Union in 1891. In 1893, he joined the Legal Eight Hours and International Labour League. By 1898, he was its general secretary. It was later incorporated into the

National Amalgamated Furnishing Trades Association The National Amalgamated Furnishing Trades Association (NAFTA) was a trade union representing workers involved in making furniture in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1902 from the merger of the Alliance Cabinet Makers' Assoc ...

. About the same time, he also joined the South Salford Branch of the Social Democratic Federation.

Political career

In 1907, he was elected to Salford Borough Council, serving for six years. In 1911, he became the assistant general secretary of the union, and in 1917, he was elected as its general secretary. He also served as treasurer of the

Federation of Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades The Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU), often known as the Confed is a trade union confederation in the United Kingdom. History The confederation was founded in December 1890 as the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuil ...

for three years and then as president. He attended the

Foundation Congress of the Communist Party of Great Britain The Foundation Congress of the Communist Party of Great Britain was held at Cannon Street Hotel, and the International Socialist Club, in London on the 31 July – 1 August, 1920. It occurred after the Workers Socialist Federation had set up the C ...

and was responsible for the resolution proposing the foundation of the Communist Party of Great Britain. In 1920, he visited Belfast as part of a

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

delegation enquiring into the workplace expulsions. He was elected to the General Council of the TUC in 1921 and became President of the TUC in 1924. In 1925, he chaired a TUC delegation to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

was very critical of the political choices of the Stalinist bureaucracy toward Purcell. At the December 1923 general election, Purcell was elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

by defeating the sitting

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MP, Sir

Edward Manville Sir Edward Manville (formerly Mosely, 27 September 1862, Paddington – 17 March 1933, London) M.Inst.E.E., was a British consulting electrical engineer, industrialist and politician. After a successful career as an electrical engineering consu ...

. However, at the October 1924 general election, he was defeated by Manville. Purcell was out of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

for only nine months.

James Wignall James Wignall (21 July 1856 – 10 June 1925) was a British Labour Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons for seven years from 1918 to 1925. In 1893 Wignall was appointed Secretary of the Swansea branches of the Dockers' Union and be ...

, the Labour MP for the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to ...

division of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, died in June 1925, and at the resulting by-election on 14 July, Purcell won the seat. He did not defend that seat at the 1929 general election and stood instead in Manchester Moss Side. He lost to the sitting Conservative MP, Sir

Gerald Berkeley Hurst Sir Gerald Berkeley Hurst QC (4 December 1877 – 27 October 1957) was a British Conservative Party politician. Gerald Berkeley Hertz was born in Bradford to Fanny Mary and William Martin Hertz, a wool merchant. His Jewish grandparents on bot ...

References

External links

* 1872 births 1935 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 British trade unionists Presidents of the Trades Union Congress English communists {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub