Leslie Spriggs (22 April 1910 – 22 May 1990) was a British

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician and trade unionist, MP for St Helens from

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

until 1983. 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 ...

, Spriggs served in the Navy and then worked on the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s. It was whilst he was working for the railways that he became involved in socialism and the

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 ( ...

movement. He joined the Labour Party in 1935, and the

National Union of Railwaymen The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. The largest railway workers' union in the country, it was influential in the national trade union movement. History The NUR was an industrial union ...

in 1937, becoming "president of the NUR North West district council political section, as well as vice president of the industrial section" during the early 1970s. Until elected 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 ...

, Spriggs lived his adult life in

Thornton, Lancashire Thornton is a village in the Borough of Wyre, about north of Blackpool and south of Fleetwood. The civil parish of Thornton became an urban district in 1900, and was renamed Thornton-Cleveleys in 1927. In 2011 the Thornton built-up area sub div ...

and was a railways goods guard. In 1955 he unsuccessfully contested his local constituency, North Fylde, a Conservative safe seat. Three years later, he was chosen as the Labour candidate in the St Helens

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

following the resignation of

Hartley Shawcross Hartley William Shawcross, Baron Shawcross, (4 February 1902 – 10 July 2003), known from 1945 to 1959 as Sir Hartley Shawcross, was an English barrister and Labour politician who served as the lead British prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Cri ...

. He won the seat, which he would retain until its abolition in 1983, and moved to St. Helens. Following the seat's abolition he retired from politics, due to age and ill health, and moved back to Thornton. He had decided to retire in 1981, saying that being an MP was "a little too much when you've reached 72". A career

backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

, Spriggs was rarely in the public eye, and "often said it did not necessarily follow that those MPs who were rarely in the headlines were not representing their constituency properly." He believed that "behind the scenes" activity often produced the best results. One example of this was the price agreement he secured with foreign glassmakers that saved "countless" jobs in his constituency. He supported proposals for a

float glass Float glass is a sheet of glass made by floating molten glass on a bed of molten metal, typically tin, although lead and other various low- melting-point alloys were used in the past. This method gives the sheet uniform thickness and very flat sur ...

plant at

Pilkington Pilkington is a Japanese-owned glass-manufacturing company which is based in Lathom, Lancashire, United Kingdom. In the UK it includes several legal entities and is a subsidiary of Japanese company NSG Group. Prior to its acquisition by NSG i ...

's St Helens facility, which he claimed lost him votes in the October 1974 general election. Despite this claim, he only received one less vote than in the previous election. Spriggs had ill-health for much of his life. He suffered

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involv ...

, as well as having had several heart attacks. As early as 1970 rumours circulated that he was to stand down. A heart attack he suffered in 1974 became the subject of an anecdote by MP

Joe Ashton Joseph William Ashton (9 October 1933 – 30 March 2020) was a British Labour Party politician who was known for his defence of the rights of Labour Members of Parliament (MPs) against the demands of the left wing of the party to subject them ...

, illustrating the sometimes extreme lengths party

whips A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

would go to in cases of

Division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

: :"I remember the famous case of Leslie Spriggs, the then-Member for St. Helens. We had a tied vote and he was brought to the House in an ambulance having suffered a severe heart attack. The two Whips went out to look in the ambulance and there was Leslie Spriggs laid there as though he was dead. I believe that

John Stradling Thomas Sir John Stradling Thomas (10 June 1925 – 29 March 1991) was a Welsh Conservative Party politician. He was also a farmer, company director and broadcaster. Biography Thomas was educated at Rugby School and the University of London. He serv ...

said to

Joe Harper Joseph Montgomery Harper (born 11 January 1948) is a Scottish former footballer, mainly remembered for his two spells with Aberdeen, during which he won the three main domestic trophies once each and became the club's record goalscorer with 20 ...

, 'How do we know that he is alive?' So he leaned forward, turned the knob on the heart machine, the green light went around, and he said, 'There, you've lost—it's 311' he vote had been tied 310-310 That is an absolutely true story. It is the sort of nonsense that used to happen. No one believes it, but it is true."

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1966 and 1979

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spriggs, Leslie 1910 births 1990 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies National Union of Railwaymen-sponsored MPs UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Royal Navy sailors Conductor (rail)