Walter Robert Smith (7 May 1872 – 25 February 1942) was a

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 ...

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 ...

(MP) who represented

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. He was an organiser with the

National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives The National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives (NUBSO) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1873 and 1971. It represented workers in the footwear industry. History The union was founded in 1873, when many riveters and ...

Early career

Smith was president of the Norwich Union of Clickers and Roughstuff Cutters in 1893, and when that organisation was merged in the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives in 1894, Smith became the part-time president of the Norwich branch, a position he held until his election as national organiser in 1916. He was member of

Norwich City Council Norwich City Council is the city council for the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. It consists of 39 councillors, elected to represent 13 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under Labour control and led by Alan Waters. It form ...

and honorary president of the

National Union of Agricultural Workers The National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers (NUAW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1906 and 1982. It represented farmworkers. History The union was established as the Eastern Counties Agricultural Labou ...

from 1911 to 1923. He also served as president of Norwich Trades Council from 1904 until 1917, and was the first president of the

International Landworkers' Federation The International Landworkers' Federation (ILF) was a global union federation bringing together trade unions representing agricultural and forestry workers. History The federation was established in 1920 at a conference in Amsterdam, and set up it ...

Political career

Smith was the first Labour MP who was elected for Wellingborough. He represented the division from 1918 to 1922. He represented his native city of Norwich in between 1923 and 1924, and again in from 1929 to 1931. In 1924 he was

Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries was a junior ministerial office in the British government, serving under the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. The title changed to Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry o ...

in the

First MacDonald ministry The first MacDonald ministry of the United Kingdom lasted from January to November 1924. The Labour Party, under Ramsay MacDonald, had failed to win the general election of December 1923, with 191 seats, although the combined Opposition tall ...

. The next year he replaced John Stirling-Maxwell as member of the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

. In the

Second MacDonald ministry The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...

Smith was

Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade in the United Kingdom was a member of Parliament assigned to assist the Board of Trade and its President with administration and liaison with Parliament. It replaced the Vice-President of the Board o ...

(1929–31). He was chairman of the Labour Party in 1934, and the following year Smith was announced as a member of the newly created

Herring Industry Board The Sea Fish Industry Authority (or Seafish) is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Established in 1981, and charged with working with the UK seafood indus ...

References

External links

* 1872 births 1942 deaths UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1929–1931 Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives-sponsored MPs Presidents of the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers People from Wellingborough Politicians from Norwich Place of birth missing Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) Parliamentary Secretaries to the Board of Trade {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub