Tuesday, 4 July 2017
1608 Enoch Edwards
Constituency : Hanley 1906-09 , 1909-12 ( Labour )
Enoch took Hanley from the Tories as a Liberal-Labour candidate.
Enoch had a brief education at a Methodist day school before going into the mines. He became involved in trade union politics as well as sitting on Staffordshire County Council. He became President of the Midland Counties Miners Federation in 1886, the first Treasurer of the MFGB in 1889 and then President of the MFGB in 1904. He stood for Hanley in 1900 but failed to impress many of the potters. He was Mayor of Burslem in 1900. He was a Primitive Methodist Sunday school treasurer.
Enoch's maiden speech was in favour of old age pensions. His last speech supported a minimum wage in the mining industry. He sat on the Royal Commission on the mines in 1909.
Enoch obeyed the instruction to switch to Labour in 1909 and held his seat in both 1910 elections without Liberal opposition.
Enoch died in 1912 after suffering a stroke, aged 60. It was thought that leading the disastrous strike of that year hastened his demise. His death caused a bitter by-election with both Liberals and Labour feeling they had a prior claim on the seat.
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