John Pollock (1893–1955) was a Scottish political activist. Born in

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, Pollock worked for many years as a boilermaker. He joined a Marxist group when he was sixteen, but soon left, and instead joined 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 ...

(ILP). He worked as the

election agent An election agent in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some other similar political systems such as elections in India, is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is ...

for

Robert Climie Robert Climie (4 January 1868 – 3 October 1929) was a Scottish trade unionist and Labour Party (UK) politician. Robert was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland on 4 January 1868. He was the son of bonnet weaver Mary McGarvie and underground colliery ...

, Labour candidate for

on several occasions, and as a result, he lost his job. He found employment on the buses, but was again sacked for his political work. He spent several months unemployed in 1926, but then found work as a co-operative insurance agent, and moved to

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

.Ian MacDougall, ''Voices from the hunger marches: personal recollections by Scottish hunger marchers of the 1920s and 1930s'', p. 400 Pollock was selected as ILP candidate for

at the

1931 UK general election Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

. The Labour Party would only support those ILP candidates who signed a declaration of loyalty, which Pollock refused to do. He lost the election to the incumbent, Craigie Aitchison, then stood in the

1933 Kilmarnock by-election The 1933 Kilmarnock by-election was a by-election held on 2 November 1933 for the House of Commons constituency of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire. Vacancy The vacancy had arisen when Scotland's second most senior judge, the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord ...

and the

1935 UK general election The 1935 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 14 November 1935 and resulted in a large, albeit reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Stanley Baldwin of the Conservative Party. The greatest number of members, a ...

, placing third behind National Labour and Labour candidates on these occasions. Pollock was elected as chair of the important Scottish Division of the ILP, and also won election to Ayr town council. In 1946,

Jimmy Maxton James Maxton (22 June 1885 – 23 July 1946) was a British left-wing politician, and leader of the Independent Labour Party. He was a pacifist who opposed both world wars. A prominent proponent of Home Rule for Scotland, he is remembered as on ...

, the leading personality in the ILP, died, and Pollock decided to defect to the Labour Party. At the 1950 UK general election, he stood for his new part in

, but was not elected. Pollock was active in the

Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is a trade union in the United Kingdom, consisting of around 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse wo ...

until his death, in 1955. His son, also John Pollock, became the general secretary of the

Educational Institute of Scotland The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) is the oldest teachers' trade union in the world, having been founded in 1847 when dominies became concerned about the effect of changes to the system of education in Scotland on their professional s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, John 1893 births 1955 deaths Councillors in Ayrshire Independent Labour Party parliamentary candidates People from Kilmarnock Scottish Labour parliamentary candidates Scottish trade unionists