Robert Murray (30 June 1869 – 9 August 1950) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

co-operator A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

and politician who served briefly in Parliament as a member of the Labour Party.

Early life

Murray came from Bridgeton in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and in his early life worked as a

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

finisher and a pattern maker. He later moved to being a bookseller, journalist and author and settled in

Barrhead Barrhead ( sco, Baurheid, gd, Ceann a' Bharra) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268. History Barrhead was formed when ...

. In 1894 he was elected to

Neilston Neilston ( sco, Neilstoun, gd, Baile Nèill, ) is a village and parish in East Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the Levern Valley, southwest of Barrhead, south of Paisley, and south-southwest of Renfrew, at t ...

Parish Council, on which he served for nearly thirty years; he also became a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Renfrewshire. Prominent in the Cooperative movement he was sub-editor of its journal ''Scottish Co-operator''.Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, "Who's Who of British Members of Parliament" vol III (Harvester Press, 1979), p. 258.

Parliamentary elections

At the general election of 1918, Murray stood for West Renfrewshire as a Labour Party candidate, having been sponsored by the Independent Labour Party."The General Election: First List Of Candidates", ''The Times'', 26 November 1918, p. 4. With 7,126 votes, he was not elected but came within 4,500 of the sitting Coalition Liberal MP."Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench 1921", p. 248. Murray was reselected to stand at the next election, and when it was called in November 1922 he won the West Renfrewshire seat by 11,787 to 10,051.""Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench 1923", p. 217.

In Parliament

Murray's maiden speech in Parliament criticised the Government for "colouring information" which it gave to the public, and manipulating the press; it followed an incident in which the National Unemployed Workers' Movement had organised a march and the Government had given out biographies of the leaders to the press with an instruction not to identify the source of the information."Parliament", ''The Times'', 28 November 1922, p. 6. In April 1923 Murray moved a motion in Parliament calling for more middle-class professional workers to form trade unions and associations for collective bargaining; the Government did not oppose his motion and it was agreed to by the House of Commons."Parliament", ''The Times'', 19 April 1923, p. 8. Murray retained his seat in the 1923 general election with a majority of 3,302 over the Conservative candidate with the Liberals in third. He spoke in favour of the Guardianship of Infants Bill, which gave mothers equal legal authority with fathers, making a witty speech which observed that women's knowledge that they had no legal rights made them get their own way "in other directions"."Parliament", ''The Times'', 5 April 1924, p. 7.

1924 election

When the 1924 general election was called, Murray faced a single opponent in Lt Col

McInnes Shaw Colonel Sir Archibald Douglas McInnes Shaw, (15 March 1895 – 10 June 1957) was a Scottish soldier, businessman and Unionist Party politician. He served in both World Wars, and sat in the House of Commons from 1924 to 1929. Career Shaw was t ...

(Conservative) as the Liberal Party decided not to stand. There had been negotiations between the Liberals and Conservatives for an electoral pact which centred on the neighbouring Paisley seat held by

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

and McInnes Shaw, who had been adopted as the Conservative candidate there, retired and came forward instead to challenge Murray."Unionist Withdraws At Paisley", ''The Times'', 14 October 1924, p. 7. In the circumstances it was thought likely that McInnes Shaw would take most of the Liberal vote and therefore win the seat,"Mr. Asquith's Fight", ''The Times'', 22 October 1924, p. 16. and this proved to be the case: Murray was beaten by 2,015.

Later life

Out of Parliament Murray became editor of ''Scottish Co-operator'', and from 1927 to 1939 he was a Director of the Scottish Cooperative Wholesale Society. Murray was a member of the Evangelical Union Congregational Church;. His wife, Margaret Brown McKinlay died in 1944. His son was Dr

David Stark Murray Dr David Stark Murray (14 July 1900 – 16 September 1977), son of Robert Murray (Scottish politician), Robert Murray MP was a Consultant (medicine), consultant pathologist, writer, and president of the Socialist Health Association, Socialist Med ...

who became President of the Socialist Medical Association and a leading advocate of the national health service. He had three daughters. The youngest, Marion, married Neil Maclean, the son of the MP for Govan who was also called

Neil Maclean Neil Maclean (1875 – 12 September 1953) was a Scottish socialist and an Independent Labour Party and later Labour Party Member of Parliament for Govan. Maclean was the first Secretary of the Socialist Labour Party, but was expelled in 1908. ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Robert 1869 births 1950 deaths Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 Councillors in Renfrewshire Scottish journalists Scottish Christians