Fielding Reginald West (November 1892 – 6 October 1935) was a

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Labour Party politician.

Early life

West was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

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 ...

. Following elementary education at the age of 12, he initially worked in a coal mine before becoming a clerk in a Bradford textile factory. During the First World War he was a clerk in the

Army Pay Corps The Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC) was the corps of the British Army responsible for administering all financial matters. It was amalgamated into the Adjutant General's Corps in 1992. History The first "paymasters" have existed in the army before t ...

. In 1916 he married Lily Noble and had one son. However, she died in childbirth. Later on, he married Peggy Reece and had two children, the first of whom died at one year old. Following the war he moved to London where he attended the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first polytechnic to open in London. The Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in Aug ...

and

London Day Training College IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) is the education school of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior to ...

, before taking up employment as a schoolteacher at the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

West Kensington Central School.

MP for Kensington North

At the 1929 general election, West contested the seat of Kensington North as a Labour Party candidate, and was elected, unseating 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, Percy Gates. Following the election a minority Labour government was formed. However this collapsed in 1931, and a National Government was formed. There was also a split in the Labour Party, with supporters of the Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, forming a

National Labour Organisation The National Labour Organisation, also known as the National Labour Committee or simply as National Labour, was a British political group formed after the 1931 creation of the National Government to co-ordinate the efforts of the supporters of ...

. The remainder of the party found itself in opposition to the government. The National Government called an election in October 1931, which they won by a landslide. West was among many Labour MPs who lost their seats, defeated by the government candidate, James Duncan of the Conservative Party.

MP for Hammersmith North

In March 1934 the Conservative MP for Hammersmith North died. West was chosen to contest the resulting by-election for the Labour Party. In a three-cornered contest with Conservative and Communist opponents, West was elected with a majority of 3,516 votes. Fielding West died while in office of cancer at Hammersmith Hospital in October 1935.

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* 1892 births 1935 deaths Alumni of the UCL Institute of Education Alumni of the University of Westminster Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 People from Huddersfield People educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School, Bradford {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub