George Lathan (5 August 1875 – 14 June 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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

trade unionist 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 ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Park from 1929 to 1931 and from 1935 until his death. Lathan worked on the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

s where he became an active trade unionist and joined the

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 Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

. He became president of the Railway Clerks Association from 1906 until 1912, when he became its chief assistant secretary, a post he held until 1937. Lathan also joined the Labour Party, and at the 1918 general election, stood unsuccessfully in

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. From 1921 until 1936, Lathan was a member of the Railways National Wages Board. From 1921 until 1937, he was the president of the National Federation of Professional Workers. Lathan was a parliamentary candidate at successive general elections. In

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

he was defeated in Enfield, then in

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

and

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

he stood in Sheffield Park, finally winning the seat in

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

. He lost the seat in

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, but retook it in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

. He served as the chairman of the Labour Party National Executive Committee in 1931/2 and party treasurer from 1936 until his death.

References

*Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, ''Who's Who of British MPs: Volume III, 1919-1945''
Single or Return - the official history of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lathan, George 1875 births 1942 deaths British trade unionists Politics of Sheffield UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1935–1945 Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) Transport Salaried Staffs' Association-sponsored MPs Presidents of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association