Eldred Hallas (1870 – 13 June 1926) was a British politician who served 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 of ...

(MP) for Birmingham Duddeston from 1918 to 1922.

Life

Born and educated in Yorkshire, Hallas moved to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

in 1906 where he became leader of the Birmingham Municipal Employees Union. In 1911 he was elected as an independent

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

to the Birmingham Town Council for

Duddeston Duddeston is an inner-city area of the Nechells ward of central Birmingham, England. It was part of the Birmingham Duddeston constituency until that ceased to exist in 1950. Etymology The name ''Duddeston'' comes from ''Dud's Town'', with Dud be ...

and

Nechells Nechells is a district ward in central Birmingham, England, whose population in 2011 was 33,957. It is also a ward within the formal district of Ladywood. Nechells local government ward includes areas, for example parts of Birmingham city centr ...

ward . During World War I, he became associated with the

British Workers League The British Workers League was a 'patriotic labour' group which was anti-socialist and pro-British Empire. Founded originally as the ''Socialist National Defence Committee'', the league operated fro''May 1916''to 1927. The league's origins lay ...

which later became the

National Democratic and Labour Party The National Democratic and Labour Party, usually abbreviated to National Democratic Party (NDP), was a short-lived political party in the United Kingdom. History The party's origins lay in a split by the right wing of the British Socialist Part ...

(NDP). In the 1918 general election, Hallas was elected with the

Coalition coupon The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory ...

for the NDP in the new Birmingham Duddeston constituency. However, he soon became disillusioned with the

Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...

Government and joined the Labour Party in October 1919, becoming Birmingham's first Labour MP. He stood down from 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. ...

at the 1922 general election, and unsuccessfully fought the Handsworth ward for Birmingham City Council in the 1923 elections as a Labour candidate. He died in a

Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

nursing home in 1926, and was commemorated by a plaque in the

Balsall Heath Balsall Heath is an inner-city area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has a diverse cultural mix of people and is the location of the Balti Triangle. History Balsall Heath was agricultural land between Moseley village and the city of B ...

branch of the

Birmingham Municipal Bank The Birmingham Municipal Bank was a savings bank in the city of Birmingham, England. It was created as the Birmingham Corporation Savings Bank by a 1916 Act of Parliament on a temporary basis and replaced by the Birmingham Municipal Bank in 1919 ...

References

External links

* 1870 births 1926 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies National Democratic and Labour Party MPs UK MPs 1918–1922 Trade unionists from Birmingham, West Midlands {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub