William John Tout (1870–1946) was Labour MP for

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

, a two-member constituency. Tout began working in a cotton mill in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

at the age of ten, initially as a half-timer. He opposed the half-time system, and took part in the Burnley Weavers' Association's campaigns against it. This activity gradually brought him to prominence, and in 1911, Tout was elected as the general secretary of the

Todmorden Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax, West Yorkshire, Hal ...

Weavers' Association. Four years later, he was elected as vice-president of the

Amalgamated Weavers' Association The Amalgamated Weavers' Association, often known as the Weavers' Amalgamation, was a trade union in the United Kingdom. Initially, it operated in competition with the North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association in part of its area, ...

, to which the Todmorden union was affiliated. He also served on the executive of 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 ...

. Tout stood as a UTFWA-sponsored candidate in Oldham at the

1922 United Kingdom general election The 1922 United Kingdom general election was held on Wednesday 15 November 1922. It was won by the Conservative Party, led by Bonar Law, which gained an overall majority over the Labour Party, led by J. R. Clynes, and a divided Liberal Party. ...

, winning the seat, and held it in

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

. He lost his seat in 1924, possibly as a result of Labour standing two candidates. He stood unsuccessfully again at the 1925 Oldham by-election. He then won Sowerby from the Unionists in 1929, but lost it in 1931. Out of Parliament, Tout retained his trade union posts until 1945, and remained secretary of the Todmorden Weavers until his death the following year.

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* Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politicians from Oldham 1870 births 1946 deaths Place of death missing UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1929–1931 United Textile Factory Workers' Association-sponsored MPs {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub