1488 John Johnson

Constituency  : Gateshead  1904-1909,  1909-10  ( Labour )

John  took  over  from   the  deceased  William  Allan  at  Gateshead. Although  John  was  a  member  of  the  I.L.P.  he  was  adopted  by  the  Liberals  as  a  Lib-Lab  candidate.

John  worked  in  the  mining  industry. He  was  Treasurer  of  the  Durham  Miners  Association  from  1890  to  1896.

John's  maiden  speech  in  1904  was  in  support  of  the  Trade  Unions  and  Trade  Disputes  Bill.

In  1906  John  scored  a  huge  majority  over  the  Liberal  Unionist  candidate.

In  1909  the  Miners  Federation  of  Great  Britain  affiliated  to  the  Labour  party  and  required  all  their  sponsored  MPs  to  change  their  colours  to  Labour. John  obeyed  the  instruction.

John  was  the  only  one  of  those  MPs  to  face  Liberal  opposition  at  the  January  1910  election. The  Liberal  candidate,  Harold  Elverston  opposed  the  Miners  Eight  Hours  Act  which  was  unpopular  with  many  miners  in  Gateshead  while  John  Supported  it. He  came third  as  Elverston  won  the  contest.

He  died  later  that  year  aged  60.