William Edwin Wheeldon (20 February 1898 – 7 October 1960) was a British
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 municipal politician from Small Heath Borough Constituency in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
who later became a
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 ...
.
Wheeldon was born in
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
. After attending the elementary school he joined the
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
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at the start of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, transferring to the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
in 1918. At the end of the war, he settled in Birmingham, where he became involved in the
Cooperative
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 ...
movement.
His work in the Co-op included membership of the
Co-operative Party
The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, supporting co-operative values and principles. Established in 1917, the Co-operative Party was founded by co-operative societies to campaign politically for the fair ...
. He was elected to
Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom (e ...
from
St Bartholomew's Ward in 1927 as 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 ...
and Co-operative member, and from 1935 he was Secretary of the Birmingham and District Co-operative Party. In 1945 he was nominated as an
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
. When Labour won control of the City Council in 1946, Wheeldon was made Chairman of the Finance Committee.
Following the death of
Fred Longden, Wheeldon was elected as
Labour Co-operative
Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party.
Candidat ...
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) for
Birmingham Small Heath in
a by-election in 1952. He specialised in local government, education, finance and housing, but was a low-profile MP. Unusually for the time, he was opposed to building tower blocks to ease the housing crisis, insisting that workers wanted to live on ground level with a bit of garden.
His health declined in 1958, and he fought the
1959 general election from a hospital bed, leaving it only on polling day to meet party workers. After a major operation in the summer of 1960 failed, Wheeldon died that October, aged 62.
References
*M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981)
*Christopher Phillips, "Birmingham Votes 1911-2000" (Local Government Chronicle Election Centre)
*Obituary, ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', 8 October 1960
;Specific
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeldon, William
1898 births
1960 deaths
Councillors in Birmingham, West Midlands
Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1951–1955
UK MPs 1955–1959
UK MPs 1959–1964
People from Crewe
Labour Party (UK) councillors