James Dundas White (10 July 1866 – 30 April 1951), known as J. D. White, was a Scottish Liberal Party politician. He was

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) from 1906 to 1918, with a short break in 1911.

Background

White was the nephew of

Lord Overtoun John Campbell White, 1st Baron Overtoun, (21 November 1843 – 15 February 1908) was a Scottish chemical manufacturer, supporter of religious causes, philanthropist and Liberal politician. He was raised to the peerage by Gladstone in 1893, an ...

.The Late Right Hon Baron Overtoun
Who's Who in Glasgow in 1909 Born in Rutherglen, his family operated the J&J White Chemicals factory in the town.

Politics

He was elected at the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting ele ...

as Liberal MP for Dunbartonshire. He was re-elected in January 1910. In 1910 he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Lord Pentland the

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

. He did not stand at the

December 1910 general election The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the History of the United Kingdom during the First World War, First Wo ...

. He returned to the House of Commons seven months later, when he was elected at the

1911 Glasgow Tradeston by-election The Glasgow Tradeston by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 6 July 1911. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. ...

. He was one of a group of radical Liberal MPs called the

Single Taxers Georgism, also called in modern times Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that, although people should own the value they produce themselves, the economic rent derived from land—including ...

, who favoured land reform. They had some success in persuading Liberal

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

David 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 politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...

who integrated some of their views into his 1913-14 land campaign. White favoured the introduction of

Land value taxation A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land without regard to buildings, personal property and other improvements. It is also known as a location value tax, a point valuation tax, a site valuation tax, split rate tax, or a site-value ...

and wrote extensively on the subject. In 1912 when Thomas McKinnon Wood took over as Secretary of State for Scotland, White continued as his PPS. He remained as PPS to McKinnon Wood in his other roles until he left office in 1916. He was Chairman of one and member of several other Departmental Committees during the European War.'WHITE, J(ames) Dundas', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 200
retrieved 4 March 2014
/ref> At the general election in 1918, White did not receive the Coalition Coupon and was defeated by a Unionist supporter of

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 ...

's coalition government. In 1919 along with a number of other Single Taxers, he left the Liberal party and joined the Independent Labour Party. He did not contest the 1922 General election. At the 1923 General Election he contested Middlesbrough West. At the 1924 General Election he contested Glasgow Central. In 1926 he became disillusioned with the failure of the Labour party to commit to land reform and resigned from the Labour party. He did not contested any further parliamentary elections.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:White, J. D. 1866 births 1951 deaths Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Politicians from South Lanarkshire People from Rutherglen