Fielding Reginald West (November 1892 – 6 October 1935) 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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Labour Party politician.

Early life

West was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

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 ...

. Following elementary education at the age of 12, he initially worked in a coal mine before becoming a clerk in a

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

textile factory. During the First World War he was a clerk in the Army Pay Corps. In 1916 he married Lily Noble and had one son. However, she died in childbirth. Later on, he married Peggy Reece and had two children, the first of whom died at one year old. Following the war he moved to London where he attended the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

and London Day Training College, before taking up employment as a schoolteacher at the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

West Kensington Central School.

MP for Kensington North

At the 1929 general election, West contested the seat of

Kensington North Kensington North was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Kensington district of west London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Ki ...

as a Labour Party candidate, and was elected, unseating 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, Percy Gates. Following the election a minority Labour government was formed. However this collapsed in 1931, and a National Government was formed. There was also a split in the Labour Party, with supporters of the Prime Minister,

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

, forming a

National Labour Organisation The National Labour Organisation, also known simply as National Labour, was formed in 1931 by supporters of the National Government in Britain who had come from the Labour Party. Its leaders were Ramsay MacDonald (1931–1937) and his son Mal ...

. The remainder of the party found itself in opposition to the government. The National Government called an election in October 1931, which they won by a landslide. West was among many Labour MPs who lost their seats, defeated by the government candidate, James Duncan of the Conservative Party.

MP for Hammersmith North

In March 1934 the Conservative MP for Hammersmith North died. West was chosen to contest the resulting by-election for the Labour Party. In a three-cornered contest with Conservative and

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 ...

opponents, West was elected with a majority of 3,516 votes. Fielding West died while in office of cancer at Hammersmith Hospital in October 1935.

References

External links

* 1892 births 1935 deaths Alumni of the UCL Institute of Education Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 People from Huddersfield People educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School, Bradford Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub