William Joseph Norton (2 November 1900 – 4 December 1963) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the deputy head of the government of Ireland and thus holder of its second-most senior office. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is former Tao ...

from 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957, Leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1960, Minister for Social Welfare from 1948 to 1951 and Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1954 to 1957. He was a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) from 1926 to 1927 and from 1932 to 1961. Norton was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

in 1900. He joined the postal service in 1916. By 1920, he was a prominent member of the

Irish Postal Union The Irish Postal Union (IPU) was a trade union representing clerks, telegraphists and telephonists working in the Post Office in Ireland. The union was founded in 1900 as the Dual Workers' Association, and in 1904 it was renamed as the Association ...

and the wider trade union movement in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. From 1924 to 1957, he served as Secretary of the Post Office Workers' Union. William Norton circa 1927 to 1932

He was elected as a Labour Party TD for Dublin County at a by-election in 1926, but was defeated at the June 1927 general election. On constitutional matters, Norton opposed the introduction into force of the

Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936 The Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936 (No. 58 of 1936) was an Act of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament). The Act, which was signed into law on 12 December 1936, was one of two passed hurriedly in the aftermath of the Edward VIII a ...

which continued a role for the British King after the King was removed from the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the fundamental law of Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democracy, is broadly within the traditi ...

. In Norton’s view, the association with the British King should have ended when Edward VIII “voluntarily relinquished his objectionable role here”.

Nicholas Mansergh Philip Nicholas Seton Mansergh (27 June 1910 – 16 January 1991) was a historian. His focus was on Ireland and the British Commonwealth. As the Smuts Professor of Commonwealth History at Cambridge University after 1953, he trained many of the ...

, ‘Survey of the British Commonwealth’, pg. 274 In Professor Tom Garvin's review of the 1950s 'News from a New Republic', he comes in for praise as a moderniser. Garvin places him with a cross party group including

Gerard Sweetman Hugh Gerard Sweetman (20 June 1908 – 28 January 1970) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Finance from 1954 to 1957. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare constituency from 1948 to 1970. He was a Senator fo ...

and

Daniel Morrissey Daniel Morrissey (28 November 1895 – 4 November 1981) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Justice from March 1951 to June 1951, Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1948 to 1951 and Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil ...

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

as well as

Seán Lemass Seán Francis Lemass (born John Francis Lemass; 15 July 1899 – 11 May 1971) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1959 to 1966. He also served as Tánaiste from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954 ...

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

who were pushing a modernising agenda. He represented

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...

from 1932 until his death in 1963. In 1932, he became leader of the Labour Party. In the First Inter-Party Government from 1948 to 1951, Norton became Tánaiste and Minister for Social Welfare. In the

Second Inter-Party Government The second (symbol: s) is the unit of Time in physics, 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 t ...

from 1954 to 1957, Norton served as Tánaiste and Minister for Industry and Commerce. William Norton died in Dublin in 1963. His son Patrick Norton served as a TD for Kildare from 1965 to 1969.

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