John Hogan Jenkins (1852–1936) was a Welsh

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. He was mayor of Cardiff (1903–04), President of the Trades Union Congress (1895–96) and Member of Parliament (MP) for Chatham, Kent (1906–1910).

Biography

Jenkins was born in Pembroke on 27 May 1852. A shipwright by trade, he spent most of his life in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. He was firstly a Liberal-Labour and then Labour Party politician. Driven by strong Methodist Christian principles, he founded a Shipwrights Society in Cardiff, becoming its president. He helped found several other trade unions. He became

President of the Trades Union Congress The president of the Trades Union Congress is a prominent but largely honorary position in United Kingdom, British trade unionism. History Initially, the post of president was elected at the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) itself, and would serv ...

in 1895. In 1900 he was elected to

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff () is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Administrative divisions of Wales, principal areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

and was Mayor of Cardiff from 1903 to 1904. With his background in shipbuilding, Jenkins launched his campaign in 1904 to become Member of Parliament (MP) for the English port town of Chatham in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. The seat was held by the Conservative Party and Jenkins was standing against Conservative mayor Major Jameson. The campaign was rough at times, but Jenkins built up a strong loyal base of supporters. He was elected as MP at the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting e ...

. Jenkins was unexpectedly defeated at the January 1910 election by the Conservative Party candidate, Gerald Hohler, who ran a compelling campaign to improve the British navy. The local Chatham newspaper in 1910 ran the headline "Surprising Defeat of Alderman Jenkins". Jenkins did not stand for Parliament again.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, John 1852 births 1936 deaths Liberal-Labour (UK) politicians Mayors of Cardiff Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress Presidents of the Trades Union Congress UK MPs 1906–1910 Welsh trade unionists