Sir Joseph Jackson Cleary, JP (26 October 1902 – 9 February 1993) was a British Labour Party politician.

Early life

Joseph Cleary was born in the

West Derby West Derby ( ) is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, in the east of the city. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West Derby achieved significance far earlier tha ...

district of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

26 October 1902 . He was educated at Holy Trinity School,

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

and at

Skerry's College Skerry's College was a series of colleges which primarily prepared candidates for Civil Service examinations across the UK and Ireland. History 1878–1885 Skerry's College was inaugurated as a small training centre in Edinburgh in 1878 by Ge ...

, Liverpool.

Career

Cleary was appointed a Liverpool justice of the peace in 1927. A member of the Labour Party, he contested the 1929 East Toxteth by-election and fought the seat again at the general election later that year, performing creditably in a safe

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 ...

seat. In the 1931 general election Cleary fought the West Derby division of Liverpool. This was a terrible year for Labour and his Conservative opponent trounced him by over 23,000 votes. He was the councillor for Garston ward from 1927 to 1941. In 1934,

Liverpool Wavertree Liverpool Wavertree is a borough constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1997 and every election since has been won by a Labour Party candidate. It has been represented by Paula Barker since 2019. An earlier co ...

's Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Ronald Nall-Cain succeeded to the peerage, and Cleary was selected as the Labour candidate for the resulting by-election on 6 February 1935. With the Conservative vote split by the presence of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

's son

Randolph Randolph may refer to: Places In the United States * Randolph, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Randolph, Arizona, a populated place * Randolph, California, a village merged into the city of Brea * Randolph, Illinois, an unincorporated com ...

as an independent Conservative candidate, Cleary won the seat with the largest swing ever recorded between the Conservative and Labour parties. At 30% (from Conservative to Labour) it remains unsurpassed to this day. Cleary's victory was to last just 281 days, making him one of the shortest-serving MPs of the 20th century. At the general election in November 1935, he lost by almost 8,000 votes in a straight fight with the Conservatives.

Later life

Cleary was made an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of Liverpool in 1941 and leader of the Labour group from 1935 to 1948. He undertook lecture-tours to British Forces in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

in 1945. Later that year he married Ethel McColl. He was

Lord Mayor of Liverpool The Lord Mayor of Liverpool is a largely ceremonial civic office of Liverpool City Council. The Lord Mayor is the ‘first citizen’ of Liverpool representing the city and acting as a focal point of community events and is also the Chair (off ...

1949–50. Twenty years after losing his seat 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 ...

, he re-entered the fray to contest Liverpool Walton in the 1955 general election. This is the longest gap recorded of any former MP in trying to return to Parliament. He was unsuccessful, but did obtain a small swing against the national trend. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours List and made a

Freeman Freeman, free men, Freeman's or Freemans may refer to: Places United States * Freeman, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Freeman, South Dako ...

of the City of Liverpool in 1970. Cleary served as a director of the

Mersey Docks and Harbour Board The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC), formerly the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board (MDHB), owns and administers the dock facilities of the Port of Liverpool, on the River Mersey, England. These include the operation of the enclosed north ...

until 1970. He died in Garston on 9 February 1993, aged 90. Sir Joseph Cleary enjoyed one of the longest post-service lifespans of any former MP, at 57 years and 87 days. This record was broken in October 2002 by

Horace Trevor-Cox Horace Brimson Trevor-Cox (14 June 1908 – 30 October 2005) was a British farmer, landowner and politician who served from 1937 to 1945 as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), but left the Conservatives in the 1960s and subsequently joined ...

. Joseph Sweeney was elected

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

member for West Donegal in 1918, aged 21. He did not take his seat in the

, but sat in the

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

. He died in 1980, some 58 years after the last occasion in 1922 that he could have taken his seat.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleary, Joseph Jackson 1902 births 1993 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1931–1935 Mayors of Liverpool Knights Bachelor Labour Party (UK) councillors in Liverpool

Early life

Career

Later life

See also

Notes and references