John Jenkins (British politician)
John Hogan Jenkins (1852–1936) was a Welsh trade unionist 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
[edit]Jenkins was born in Pembroke on 27 May 1852.[1] A shipwright by trade, he spent most of his life in Cardiff.[2] He was firstly a Liberal-Labour and then Labour Party[3][4] politician.
Driven by strong Methodist Christian principles, he founded a Shipwrights Society in Cardiff, becoming its president. He helped found several other trade unions.[1] He became President of the Trades Union Congress in 1895.[2][5]
In 1900 he was elected to Cardiff Council and was Mayor of Cardiff from 1903 to 1904.[1]
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. 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.[1] He was elected as MP at the 1906 general election.[6] Jenkins was unexpectedly defeated at the January 1910 election by the Conservative Party candidate, Gerald Hohler,[6] who ran a compelling campaign to improve the British navy. The local Chatham newspaper in 1910 ran the headline "Surprising Defeat of Alderman Jenkins".[1] Jenkins did not stand for Parliament again.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Haworth, Alan; Hayter, Dianne (2006). Men Who Made Labour: The PLP of 1906 – the personalities and the politics. New York: Routledge. pp. 107–109. ISBN 978-1-845-68047-3.
- ^ a b Stewart, J. H. (1985). The Origins of the British Labour Party. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-081660115-8.
- ^ Morgan, Kenneth O (Winter 1972). "Labour's Early Struggles in South Wales: Some New Evidence, 1900-8". National Library of Wales Journal. 17 (4). Archived from the original on 12 July 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
- ^ Craig lists Jenkins as a Labour Party candidate in 1906. The 1907 Liberal Party Yearbook lists him as LRC (Labour), as does the Labour Annual of 1908. Kenneth O Morgan describes him as Liberal-Labour before he stood for election in 1906.
- ^ "Details of Past Congresses" (PDF). TUC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
- ^ a b Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [First published 1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 94. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.