William George Cove (21 May 1888 – 15 March 1963) was a British

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. He served as a Labour Party

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 o ...

(MP) from 1923 to 1959. Cove was born in Halifax Terrace, Middle Rhondda, to Edwin and Elizabeth Cove. His father, a miner, was born in Berkeley in Gloucestersgire and was among the thousands from the west of England who migrated to the Rhondda Valleys at the end of the nineteenth century to seek work in the rapidly expanding coal industry. His mother was a native of Aberdare. Cove trained as a teacher and in 1911 was employed as a teacher by Rhondda Urban Council. Cove was first elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in the 1923 general election for the

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

constituency of

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 ...

, where he succeeded the

National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

MP Geoffrey Shakespeare. In the 1929 general election, Cove left Wellingborough to become MP for the Welsh constituency of

Aberavon Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distr ...

, where the

Labour Leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of the ...

Ramsay MacDonald had stood down to stand for the County Durham seat of

Seaham Seaham is a seaside town in County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as a result of investments in its harbour and ...

. Cove remained MP for Aberavon until he retired at the 1959 general election after 36 years in the Commons, he was succeeded at Aberavon by John Morris. He died in 1963 aged 74 in

Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as 5 ...

. Cove has been neglected by historians and he does not feature in the ''Dictionary of Welsh Biography''.

References

Sources

Books and Journals

Other sources

* *''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cove, William 1888 births 1963 deaths Welsh Labour Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Miners' Federation of Great Britain-sponsored MPs Presidents of the National Union of Teachers UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 Welsh socialists