Jack Jones (Silvertown MP)
John Joseph Jones (8 December 1873 – 21 November 1941), was a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP).
Born in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, Jones moved to London where he worked as a builders' labourer. He joined the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) and was elected to West Ham Council in 1904.[1]
In the 1906 general election, Jones unsuccessfully stood for Camborne. In 1911, he became a trade union organiser, for the National Union of General Workers.[1]
In the 1914 Poplar by-election, Jones stood unsuccessfully for the British Socialist Party (BSP) - the successor of the SDF.
As a supporter of World War I, he joined the National Socialist Party split from the BSP, which soon affiliated to the Labour Party.[1]
In the Coupon election, he stood against an official Labour candidate in Silvertown - the official candidate being an anti-war supporter of the Independent Labour Party.[1]
He became one of several National Socialist Party candidates elected, but the only one who stood for the party, rather than for the Labour Party. Despite this, he took the Labour Party whip in 1919.[1]
Jones was described by Time Magazine as "the wittiest man in the House of Commons". He held his seat in each election until he resigned in February 1940. He died the following year.[citation needed]
He was a keen football and cricket fan, and his autobiography was entitled My Lively Life.[2]
References
[edit]External links
[edit]- 1873 births
- 1941 deaths
- British Socialist Party members
- British trade unionists
- Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- GMB (trade union)-sponsored MPs
- Politicians from County Tipperary
- Social Democratic Federation members
- UK MPs 1918–1922
- UK MPs 1922–1923
- UK MPs 1923–1924
- UK MPs 1924–1929
- UK MPs 1929–1931
- UK MPs 1931–1935
- UK MPs 1935–1945
- People from Nenagh