Edward Timothy Palmer (1878 –22 April 1947) was a British Labour Party politician.

Life

Born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, Palmer worked in the insurance industry, and became a leading trade unionist in that sector. He held the office of president of the National Federation of Insurance Workers and general secretary of the

Prudential Staff Union The Prudential Staff Union was a trade union representing workers at the Prudential insurance company, in the United Kingdom. The only union of insurance workers to affiliate to the Labour Party, it was briefly represented on its National Ex ...

. He first contested a parliamentary seat at the 1918 general election, standing without success at

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. At the next general election in 1922 Palmer stood as Labour candidate at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

. He failed to be elected, with his only opponent,

George Hopwood Hume Sir George Hopwood Hume (24 May 1866 – 13 September 1946) was a British Conservative politician and leader of the London County Council. He was born in the Ukrainian city of Poltava, then in the Russian Empire. His father was George Hume, a ...

, holding the seat for the Conservative Party by a majority of more than 6,000 votes. A year later another general election was called. Palmer stood against Hume at Greenwich once more. However, on this occasion, it was a three-cornered contest, with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

also having a candidate. The Liberals, although in third place, took nearly 6,000 votes from the Conservatives and Palmer was elected with a majority of 1,586 votes. The Labour Party had made a large number of gains, leading to the formation of the

First Labour Government The first MacDonald ministry of the United Kingdom lasted from January to November 1924. The Labour Party, under Ramsay MacDonald, had failed to win the general election of December 1923, with 191 seats, although the combined Opposition tall ...

. This minority administration lasted only ten months, however. Following the loss of a vote of confidence 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 ...

, a general election was held in October 1924. In spite of an increase in his vote, Palmer was unseated in a straight fight with the former member, George Hopwood Hume, regaining the seat for the Conservatives by a little over a thousand votes. Greenwich was one of forty seats lost by Labour, which became the main opposition party in the new parliament. The 1924 parliament ran a five-year term, with the next general election held in May 1929. The Labour Party saw a modest increase in its vote and gained a large number of seats, and the Liberal Party also took votes and seats from the Conservatives. In Greenwich Palmer regained the seat from Hume in a three-cornered contest with a majority of 3,618 votes. Labour again formed a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

. In August 1931 the formation of a National Government led to a split in the Labour Party. When an election was called in October 1931 the supporters of the National Government won a huge majority, with Labour losing most of its seats. Hume regained the seat for the Conservatives by a large majority of more than 15,000 votes. Palmer's vote was also affected by the presence of a

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

candidate who secured over 2,000 votes. Palmer did not contest another parliamentary election, and retired from his union activities in 1934. In 1946 he was living at

South Benfleet South Benfleet is a town in the Castle Point district of Essex, England, 30 miles east of London. It is adjacent to the village of North Benfleet. The Benfleet (SS7) post town includes South Benfleet, Thundersley, New Thundersley and Hadleigh, ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, and was elected to

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock which ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Edward Timothy 1878 births 1947 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1929–1931 People from Croydon People from South Benfleet