1492 William Parrott

Constituency  :  Normanton  1904-05

William  took  over  as  Lib-Lab  MP  for  Normanton  in  succession  to  the  deceased  Ben  Pickard. He  won  the  seat  with  a  huge  majority  over  a  Tory.

William  was  from  a  working  class  background  with  no  formal  education. He  worked  in  a  brickyard  and  factory  before  becoming  a  miner. In  1872  he  was  elected  the  checkweighman  at  his  pit  and  from  that  point  became  drawn  into  trade  union  work. In  1881  he  was  elected  agent  of  the  newly  amalgamated  Yorkshire  Miner's  Association, a  post  he  held  for  twenty  years. He  became  general  secretary  in  1904.In  1899  he  was  elected  auditor  of  the  Standing  Orders Committee  of  the  TUC  .He  was  also  a  councillor  in  Barnsley.  Despite  having suffered  a  paralytic  seizure  in  1903  , he  was  prospective  Liberal  candidate  in  East  Leeds  when  Pickard  died. He  was  a  Methodist  lay  preacher.

William's  maiden  speech  was  against  the  coal  levy  in  the  Fiance  Bill  in  1904.

He  died  in  1905  after  a  long  illness  aged  61.