Constituency : Nottingham West 1895-1918
James took Nottingham West from the Liberal Unionists after Charles Seely stood down.
James was from Redditch. He was educated at a Wesleyan school there and Westminster Training College.In 1878 he became a teacher. He was President of the National Union of Teachers in 1891 and General Secretary thereafter. He served on the Royal Commission for Secondary Education in 1894-5. He stood unsuccessfully for Bassetlaw in 1892.
Unsurprisingly, most of James's parliamentary contributions were on educational matters. In 1909 he became the first teacher to be knighted for his services to education.
James supported going to war in 1914 using sporting analogies , "We fight for honour. You know what honour is among schoolboys - straight dealing, truth speaking, and "playing the game". Well we are standing up for honour among nations , while Germany is playing the sneak and the bully in the big European school. Germany must be taught to "play cricket"".
James was editor of The Schoolmaster from 1909 and a member of the Committee for Modern Language Teaching from 1816 to 1918.
James wrote a number of children's books such as The Doings of Dick and Dan.
James retired before the 1918 General Election. He stood down as General Secretary of the N.U.T. six years later.
He died in 1925 aged 68.
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