John Glover (1866 – 2 June 1947) was a New Zealand politician and trade unionist. He was an organiser and candidate for the United Labour,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

then the Labour Party serving time in local government.

Early life

Glover was born in 1866 in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He spent his early years working as a miner before moving to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1899. Once in New Zealand he likewise worked as a miner and became involved in the local labour movement. From 1912 to 1913 he served as the secretary of the

New Zealand Federation of Labour The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU or CTU; mi, Te Kauae Kaimahi) is a national trade union centre in New Zealand. The NZCTU represents 360,000 workers, and is the largest democratic organisation in New Zealand. History It was form ...

, known as the "Red Feds".

Political career

Glover joined the

after the 1913 unity conference and was later elected the national secretary of the Social Democratic Party in 1916. He would later play a prominent role in the unity meetings in July 1916 that would merge the Social Democrats with the remnants of the United Labour Party which led to the foundation of the modern

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...

. Upon its creation he was elected as the Labour Party's inaugural secretary-treasurer, serving from 1916 to 1919. In 1912, Glover had become the manager of the ''

Maoriland Worker The ''Maoriland Worker'', later called ''The Standard'', was a leading New Zealand labour journal of the early 20th century. It was launched in 1910 by the Shearers' Union and was initially published monthly (Frank Langstone was involved). The ne ...

'', New Zealand's leading labour journal of the time. In 1922 he was unsuccessfully prosecuted for blasphemous libel. To date, this is New Zealand's only trial for

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

ever held. Then Labour Party President Tom Paul later recalled of Glover: "...his service was as competent as it was unselfish. He just believed in the cause of Labour and worked hard in harmony with his faith. The movement has reason to thank the John Glovers of those early days". Later, Glover would spend much time serving in local government. He served as a

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

lor twice in 1919–21 and 1926–27. Previously Glover had contested Wellington's mayoralty in

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

for the

, a more radical labour party than the existing United Labour Party who also stood a candidate resulting in a split vote on the left. Later he also served as the chairman of the Wellington Hospital Board. Glover died on 2 June 1947.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Glover, John 1866 births 1947 deaths New Zealand trade unionists English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand Labour Party politicians Social Democratic Party (New Zealand) politicians United Labour Party (New Zealand) politicians Wellington City Councillors Wellington Hospital Board members