John Stokes (12 May 1872''1939 England and Wales Register'' – 17 September 1942) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

and political activist. Stokes came to prominence as secretary of the small London Glass Bottle Makers union. He was also a member of the British Socialist Party (BSP), who put him forward as their proposed candidate for Bradford East at the election which was expected to take place in 1914 or 1915. However, this was against the wishes of local BSP activists, and he failed to gain the support of the local

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

. Long active on the

London Trades Council The London Trades Council was an early labour organisation, uniting London's trade unionists. Its modern successor organisation is the Greater London Association of Trades (Union) Councils History Leading figures in the London trade union mov ...

, Stokes replaced his BSP comrade

Fred Knee Fred Knee (16 June 1868 – 8 December 1914) was a British trade unionist and socialist politician. Born in Frome, Somerset, Knee became a printer and moved to London in search of work. By 1892, Knee was living in Wimbledon and had joined the ...

as its secretary in 1914, serving for three years. Also in 1914, the BSP affiliated to the Labour Party, and Stokes immediately took a leading role in founding the

London Labour Party London Labour is the devolved, regional part of the Labour Party in Greater London. It is the largest political party in London, currently holding a majority of the executive mayoralties, a majority of local councils, council seats and parli ...

, serving as its first Chairman. Although Stokes strongly opposed conscription during

World War I 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 ...

, he did not oppose the war overall. This placed him on the right-wing of the BSP, and in 1916 he joined several other leading figures in splitting away to form the National Socialist Party (NSP).

Max Beer Moses "Max" Beer (10 August 1864 – 30 April 1943) was an Austrian-born Marxist journalist, economist, and historian. Beer is best remembered as an early writer on the topic of imperialism and for a series of books, published in translation in ...

, ''A History of British Socialism'' Stokes remained secretary of his union, while also becoming chair of the National Federation of Glass Workers and Kindred Trade Unions.''The Chemical Age'', vol.6, p.660

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, John 1872 births 1942 deaths British Socialist Party members English trade unionists