Constituency : Bury 1902-18
George took Bury when the Tory incumbent resigned. He fought off the Liberal Unionist Harry Levy-Lawson by 414 votes. He was supported by the cotton trade unions. The by-election was fought mainly on the issue of the corn tax.
George was the son of a Preston magistrate. He was educated at Preston Grammar School and became a journalist. He eventually became owner of the Preston Guardian and founder of the Lancashire Daily Post . He also helped establish the Blackburn Times and the Warrington Examiner. He was a Methodist. He stood for Bury in 1900 as a Radical.
George's maiden speech attacked the grain tax in the 1902 Budget.
In 1908 George introduced a bill to create wages boards in certain trades to fix minimum wages. He sat on the National Health Insurance Joint Committee in 1911 and chaired a select committee on London traffic. It recommended greater control measures and education for schoolchildren.
George was knighted in 1911.
George was active in recruitment in Preston and Bury during the war.
George supported Lloyd George and received the Coupon in 1918. However the local Tories decided to oppose him and won the seat.
George became Chairman of the Press Association from 1919 to 1920.
He died in 1923 aged 65.
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