Michael Brothers (23 March 1870 – 5 June 1952) 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, ...

politician.

Life and career

Born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

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 ...

, Brothers was educated at

Blackburn Technical College Blackburn College is a further education, further and higher education college in Blackburn, North West England, North West England. History Blackburn College started as Blackburn Technical College, which was established in 1888 by public sub ...

, where he obtained top marks in the

City and Guilds of London Institute The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...

examination. He spent some time in Canada, working as a miner, and then building railways, but returned to Blackburn, where he worked as a weaver and a cardroom operative. He joined the Blackburn

Cardroom Workers' Amalgamation The Cardroom Amalgamation or Cardroom Workers' Amalgamation (CWA)Joseph L. White, ''The Limits of Trade Union Militancy'', p.240, note 9 was a British trade union which existed between 1886 and 1974. It represented workers in the cotton textil ...

, and soon became its secretary. In 1927, he visited India to investigate the state of the cotton industry. The Cardroom Amalgamation was the only major cotton trade union without a member of Parliament, and they sponsored Brothers as a Labour Party candidate in Birmingham Duddeston at the 1922 general election. He was unsuccessful, but pursued his political career with election to Blackburn Borough Council in 1928. He finally won the union a place in Parliament at the 1929 general election, when he was elected 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 ...

. During Brothers' time in Parliament, Indian tariffs against British cotton were greatly increased, but Brothers believed that the Lancashire cotton industry would benefit, as tariffs against rival Japanese cotton were increased by even more. This hope proved incorrect, and the industry in Blackburn suffered most from the new barriers to export. He lost his seat in Parliament at the 1931 general election, and left the council in 1932, but remained involved with Labour as a member of its

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

, on which he represented the

United Textile Factory Workers' Association The United Textile Factory Workers' Association (UTFWA) was a trade union federation in Great Britain. It was active from 1889 until 1975. Objectives The federation was founded in 1889, to represent the various textile workers' unions in polit ...

from 1930 until 1939. From 1935, Brothers served as a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

in Blackburn.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brothers, Michael 1870 births 1952 deaths Trade unionists from Lancashire People from Blackburn UK MPs 1929–1931 Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies United Textile Factory Workers' Association-sponsored MPs