John Allen Parkinson (15 October 1870 – 7 December 1941) was a British Labour Party politician and former coal miner. He stood for Parliament seven times and was overwhelmingly elected each time.

Biography

Parkinson was born in Hindley Green, Lancashire, and worked as a coal miner in the Lancashire Coalfield. He entered politics in 1908, when he was elected as a member of the Urban District Council in Abram, He then served many years on the

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It consists of 84 councillors. Since the 2017 election, the council has been under Conservative control. Prior to the 2009 La ...

. In 1917, he was appointed miners' agent for the Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation. Parkinson was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wigan at the 1918 general election supported by the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, replacing the Conservative MP

Reginald Neville Sir Reginald James Neville Neville, 1st Baronet (22 February 1863 – 28 April 1950), born Reginald Neville White, was a British barrister and Conservative and Unionist Member of Parliament. He was created a baronet in 1927. Background and educa ...

. He served as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in Prime Minister

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

's second and third ministries. He stayed active in the mining industry throughout his life, and was a member of a 1930 Parliamentary delegation that traveled to

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...

to investigate working conditions in the copper-mining industry. Parkinson was re-elected at each subsequent general election until his death in

Orrell Orrell may refer to: *Orrell, Greater Manchester, a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan **Orrell (ward), an electoral ward of the Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council *Orrell, Merseyside, an urban area east of Bootle, in the Metropolitan Bo ...

at the age of 71 in 1941, when he became the first of four Wigan MPs to die in office in the 20th century. In the consequent by-election in 1942, the seat was held for Labour by

William Foster William Foster may refer to: People Arts *Will Foster (fl. 1990–), keyboardist for English rock band The Tears * William C. Foster (1880–1923), pioneer of cinematography * William D. Foster (1884–?), African American film producer * Willi ...

. Wigan has returned Labour MPs ever since. Parkinson was twice married; his first wife Alice (''née'' Pilkington) died in 1904. He married Ida (''née'' Atkinson) the following year. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the

1931 New Year Honours The 1931 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 30 December 1930. The recipients of honour ...

References

External links

* 1870 births 1941 deaths Members of Lancashire County Council Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Miners' Federation of Great Britain-sponsored MPs UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British coal miners People from Hindley, Greater Manchester Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Wigan {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub