Richard Collingham Wallhead (28 December 1869 – 27 April 1934), known as R. C. Wallhead, was a British Member of Parliament. Beginning his career as a decorator, Wallhead 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 ...

(ILP) and later became a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

. A committed opponent of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was detained in 1917 under the

Defence of the Realm Act The Defence of the Realm Act 1914 ( 4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 29) (DORA) was passed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 1914, four days after the country entered the First World War. It was added to as the war progressed. It gave the government wide-ranging ...

. Wallhead unsuccessfully contested

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

in the 1918 general election for the Labour Party, to which the ILP was affiliated. He was elected to

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...

in 1919, a position he held for three years. At the 1922 general election, Wallhead gained

Merthyr Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of Kin ...

from the Liberals. As the politics of the South Wales coalfield radicalised, this turned into a safe Labour seat, which he was to hold until his death. He was one of only five ILP MPs to retain their seats in the 1931 general election, after Labour withdrew their support, and initially supported their disaffiliation from Labour. However, in September 1933 he resigned from the ILP and rejoined Labour. He died the following year. His daughter

Muriel Nichol Muriel Edith Nichol JP (2 February 1893 Wilmslow, Cheshire – 28 May 1983 Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire), née Wallhead, was a Labour Party politician in England. Early life The daughter of Richard Wallhead (Independent Labour Party ...

was also a Labour politician, and served as MP for

Bradford North Bradford North was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Until it was abolished for the 2010 general election, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post sy ...

from 1945 to 1950.

References

*Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, ''Who's Who of British MPs: Volume III, 1919-1945'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallhead, R. C. 1869 births 1934 deaths Councillors in Manchester Independent Labour Party MPs Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members Welsh Labour MPs UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 Welsh socialists Members of the Executive of the Labour and Socialist International