Sir John Bailey (1 January 1898 – 18 January 1969) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

activist and politician. Born in Miskin, near

Mountain Ash Mountain ash may refer to: * ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus'' See also * Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf Mountai ...

, Bailey attended the Gwyn Ivor School until he was twelve, then worked for a cobbler before becoming a coal miner. However, in 1915 he suffered an accident which prevented him from working underground, and in 1917 he enlisted in the South Wales Borderers." In 1919, Bailey returned to mining, becoming more involved with the South Wales Miners' Federation, who funded him to complete a correspondence course with

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

and then to attend the Central Labour College. He also joined the Independent Labour Party, and in 1922, while studying in London, he unsuccessfully stood for the party in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

. The following year, he returned to Mountain Ash, and was elected to the local council. Bailey took a job in 1925 as political secretary for the Co-operative Party in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, and during this period was twice elected to

Bradford City Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, ...

. He then moved back to London as the party's national organiser, and in 1942 was appointed as its general secretary. In the role, he led calls for the Labour Party government to promote co-operative ownership. In 1955, his textbook, ''The British Co-operative Movement'', was published. Bailey retired as general secretary in 1962, but remained involved with the movement, serving on a committee set up to consider the merger of local co-operatives, and chairing the Co-operative Congress in 1964. He received a knighthood in the

1965 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1965 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Jack 1898 births 1969 deaths Alumni of Ruskin College Co-operative Party politicians Councillors in Bradford Councillors in Wales General Secretaries of the Co-operative Party Independent Labour Party politicians Labour Party (UK) councillors People from Mountain Ash, Wales South Wales Borderers soldiers British Army personnel of World War I Welsh military personnel