John Paton (8 August 1886 – 14 December 1976) was a Labour Party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and a

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 1945 to 1964. He was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

; his father James Paton was a master baker and his mother Isabella Bruce was a seamstress. After leaving school at 13 he became a

printer's devil A printer's devil was a young apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. Notable writers including Ambrose Bierce, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain served ...

in what is now the ''

Aberdeen Press and Journal ''The Press and Journal'' is a daily regional newspaper serving northern and highland Scotland including the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness. Established in 1747, it is Scotland's oldest daily newspaper, and one of the longest-running newspap ...

''. He then became a barber, running his own establishment until the war years. His socialist views repelled his wealthy customers and the shop failed soon after the war. Moving to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, he worked as a journeyman barber before becoming a full-time political organiser for the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

. he married Jessie Thomson of

Springburn Springburn ( gd, Allt an Fhuairainn) is an inner-city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, made up of generally working-class households. Springburn developed from a rural hamlet at the beginning of the 19th century. Its indu ...

, Glasgow and they had a son, John. He moved to London to become the editor of the ''

New Leader ''The New Leader'' (1924–2010) was an American political and cultural magazine. History ''The New Leader'' began in 1924 under a group of figures associated with the Socialist Party of America, such as Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas. It was ...

''. He was General Secretary of the Independent Labour Party from 1927 to 1933. He was elected at the 1945 general election as MP for the two-seat Norwich constituency. When that constituency was divided at the 1950 general election, he was returned to 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. ...

for the new Norwich North seat, which he held until he retired at the 1964 general election. His second wife

Florence Paton Florence Beatrice Paton (''née'' Widdowson; 1 June 1891 – 12 October 1976) was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, and a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950. Early life She was born in Taunton, Somerset, where her fath ...

was MP for

Rushcliffe Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 111,129. Its councilRushcliffe Borough Council List of political families in the United Kingdom During its history, the United Kingdom (and previously the Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland) has seen many families who have repeatedly produced notable politicians, and consequently such families have had a signific ...

References

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External links

* 1886 births 1976 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 Independent Labour Party politicians Politicians from Aberdeen {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub