John Baker (8 April 1867 – 3 May 1939) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

ist and Labour Party politician. Born in

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

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 ...

, he was the son of a bricklayer, also named John Baker. He held various jobs in iron foundries, steelworks, brickyards and engineering works prior to becoming a locomotive driver. In 1898 he became national organiser of the National Amalgamated Society of Enginemen, Cranemen, Boilermen, Firemen and Electrical Workers, later rising to be general secretary in 1907. From 1906–1910 he was a member of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served on munition tribunals and a number of government committees: the Ship Yard Labour Advisory Committee; the Labour Advisory Committee to the Ministry of Munitions and the Food Committee of the Ministry of Munitions. An early member of the Labour Party, Baker was subsequently selected to contest parliamentary elections on behalf of the party. In

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

he stood unsuccessfully at

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...

, and also failed to be elected at Wolverhampton Bilston in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

and 1923. He was finally elected as Bilston's member of parliament at his third attempt in the 1924 general election. By this time he was an assistant secretary at the

Iron and Steel Trades Confederation The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) was a British trade union for metal-workers and allied groups, being the largest union in these fields. It was formed on 1 January 1917 as a merger of existing steel-workers' unions and it is now pa ...

. He held the seat at the 1929 election, but was unseated in 1931 following a split in the Labour Party and the formation of a National Government. Baker was a writer on industrial economics and sat on

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As F ...

Committee on Industry and Trade The Committee on Industry and Trade, also known as the Balfour Report because it was chaired by the industrialist Arthur Balfour, was a committee set up to discover the reasons for the United Kingdom's economic decline since the Great War ...

. By the time of his death, aged 72, in the

North Middlesex Hospital North Middlesex University Hospital, known locally as North Mid, is a district general hospital in Edmonton in the London Borough of Enfield. The hospital is managed by North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust. History The hospital was e ...

he was living in

East Finchley East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill it straddles the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey, with most of East Finchley falling into the London Borough of Barnet. It ha ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, John 1867 births 1939 deaths General secretaries of British trade unions Iron and Steel Trades Confederation-sponsored MPs Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 People from Stockton-on-Tees