Albert Arthur "Alf" Purcell (3 November 1872,

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. It was Historic counties of England, historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. Hoxton lies north-east of the City of London, is considered to be a part of London's East End ...

– 24 December 1935) was a British

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ist and Labour Party politician. He was a founding member of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

and later President of the

International Federation of Trade Unions The International Federation of Trade Unions (also known as the Amsterdam International) was an international organization of trade unions, existing between 1919 and 1945. IFTU had its roots in the pre-war International Secretariat of National Tr ...

from 1924 to 1928 and sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

during two separate periods between 1923 and 1929.

Early life

The son of a French polisher, Purcell lived in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

until he moved with his family to

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

at an early age. He was educated at elementary school in

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

but at the age of nine started work part-time in a local woolen mill. The family returned to

in 1890, and he was a taken on as an apprentice French polisher. He joined the London French Polishers' Union in 1891. In 1893, he joined the Legal Eight Hours and International Labour League. By 1898, he was its general secretary. It was later incorporated into the National Amalgamated Furnishing Trades Association. About the same time, he also joined the South Salford Branch of the Social Democratic Federation.

Political career

In 1907, he was elected to Salford Borough Council, serving for six years. In 1911, he became the assistant general secretary of the union, and in 1917, he was elected as its general secretary. He also served as treasurer of the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades for three years and then as president. He attended the

Foundation Congress of the Communist Party of Great Britain The Foundation Congress of the Communist Party of Great Britain was held at Cannon_Street_station#Original_structure, Cannon Street Hotel, and the International Socialist Club, in London on the 31 July – 1 August, 1920. It occurred after the Work ...

and was responsible for the resolution proposing the foundation of the

. In 1920, he visited Belfast as part of a

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

delegation enquiring into the workplace expulsions. He was elected to the General Council of the TUC in 1921 and became President of the TUC in 1924. In 1925, he chaired a TUC delegation to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

was very critical of the political choices of the Stalinist bureaucracy toward Purcell. At the December 1923 general election, Purcell was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

by defeating the sitting

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP, Sir Edward Manville. However, at the October 1924 general election, he was defeated by Manville. Purcell was out of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for only nine months. James Wignall, the Labour MP for the

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division of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, died in June 1925, and at the resulting by-election on 14 July, Purcell won the seat. He did not defend that seat at the 1929 general election and stood instead in Manchester Moss Side. He lost to the sitting Conservative MP, Sir Gerald Berkeley Hurst.

References

External links

* 1872 births 1935 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 British trade union leaders Presidents of the Trades Union Congress English communists {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub