John Johnson (British politician)

John Johnson (1850 – 29 December 1910) was a British trade unionist and Lib-Lab politician.

John Johnson MP, circa 1906

Trade Unionist

He worked in the mining industry. In 1890 he became Treasurer of the Durham Miners' Association and then in 1897 their Financial Secretary.

Politician

In 1904, following the death of the Gateshead Liberal MP, William Allan, Johnson, though a member of the Independent Labour Party, was selected as Liberal candidate to defend the predominantly mining seat at a by-election. He won the election and joined the Liberal-Labour trade union group, as a miners union sponsored MP.

In 1906 he was re-elected at the General Election.

General election 1906 Electorate 18,614

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Johnson	9,651	65.3
	Liberal Unionist	Sir Theodore Vivian Samuel Angier	5,126	34.7
Majority			4,525	30.6
Turnout				79.4
	Liberal hold		Swing

In 1909, when the Miners Federation of Great Britain affiliated to the Labour party he was required to cross the floor to sit as a Labour MP. He was also required to seek re-election at the next general election as a Labour candidate.

In 1910, he contested the January General Election as a Labour candidate but was opposed by a Liberal candidate, Harold Elverston. Johnson was a supporter of the Coal Mines Regulation Act 1908 (8 Edw. 7. c. 57) – the 'Eight Hours Act' – which brought him opposition from many miners in Gateshead.^[1] Johnson finished in third place as the Liberals re-gained the seat.

General election January 1910 Electorate 19,138

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harold Elverston	6,800	40.7	+40.7
	Liberal Unionist	Nicholas Grattan-Doyle	6,323	37.9	+3.2
	Labour	John Johnson	3,572	21.4	−43.9
Majority			477	2.8
Turnout				87.2	+7.8
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing	+42.3

He died in December 1910 at the age of 60 in Durham, England.^[2]