John Samuel Potts (12 August 1861 – 28 April 1938) 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 ...

who served a

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(MP) for twelve years between 1922 and 1938. Born in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, Potts had started work at Durham Colliery at the age of eleven.Obituary
The Colliery Guardian; 6 May 1938, Page: 842, Column: 2 He was a checkweighman at the Hemsworth Colliery,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, for 25 years. At the Barnsley by-election of 1897, Potts supported the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

candidate Joseph Walton. While chairing a Liberal election meeting during this by-election, Potts said in the presence of Walton that he would favour a labour party at a time when state payment of MPs, and of official election expenses would enable working men to be maintained in Parliament but until then, "the Liberal Party was the working man’s only hope". David Rubinstein,
The Independent Labour Party and the Yorkshire Miners: The Barnsley By-Election of 1897
, ''What Next?''; earlier published in ''

International Review of Social History International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

'', Vol.23, 1978. In 1905, Potts switched sides, and began working with 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 ...

, against both Walton and the leadership of the

Yorkshire Miners' Association The Yorkshire Miners' Association was a British trade union. It is now an integral part of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). History The union was founded in 1881 with the merger of the South Yorkshire Miners' Association, and the ...

(YMA). Ten years later, Potts was elected as treasurer of the YMA, and became a member of the executive committee of the

Miners' Federation of Great Britain The Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) was established after a meeting of local mining trade unions in Newport, Wales in 1888. The federation was formed to represent and co-ordinate the affairs of local and regional miners' unions in Engla ...

. He kept these positions until he was elected as the Member of Parliament for

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

at the 1922 general election, when payment of MPs and election expenses had been enacted. Potts retained the seat at three further elections in the 1920s. When Labour split at the 1931 general election over

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 formation of a National Government, he narrowly lost his seat to the

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candidate

Richard John Soper Richard John Soper (13 June 1878 – 23 January 1954) was a Liberal National politician in the United Kingdom who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for four years between 1931 and 1935. Background He was born in Bishop Auckland, Durham, befor ...

. Potts was comfortably re-elected at the 1935 general election, but died in office in 1938, in

, aged 76. His illness and death have been connected with the shock he received when the Wharncliffe Woodmoor Pit Disaster occurred two years earlier. His lived on the lane which led to the colliery.

References

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External links

* 1861 births 1938 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Miners' Federation of Great Britain-sponsored MPs UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1935–1945 Politics of Barnsley {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub