George Barnes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader of the Labour Party | |
| In office 14 February 1910 – 6 February 1911 | |
| Chief Whip | George Roberts |
| Preceded by | Arthur Henderson |
| Succeeded by | Ramsay MacDonald |
| Minister without portfolio | |
| In office 17 August 1917 – 27 January 1920 | |
| Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
| Preceded by | Arthur Henderson |
| Succeeded by | Christopher Addison |
| Minister of Pensions | |
| In office 10 December 1916 – 17 August 1917 | |
| Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
| Preceded by | Office Created |
| Succeeded by | John Hodge |
| Member of Parliament forGlasgow Gorbals Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown (1906–1918) | |
| In office 8 February 1906 – 15 November 1922 | |
| Preceded by | Bonar Law |
| Succeeded by | George Buchanan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | George Nicoll Barnes (1859-01-02)2 January 1859 Lochee,Dundee, Scotland |
| Died | 21 April 1940(1940-04-21) (aged 81) London, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Other political affiliations | Independent Labour Party,National Democratic and Labour Party |
George Nicoll BarnesCH (2 January 1859 – 21 April 1940) was a BritishLabour Party politician and aLeader of the Labour Party (1910–1911).
Barnes was born on 2 January 1859 inLochee,Dundee, the second of five sons of James Barnes, a skilled engineer and mill manager fromYorkshire, and his wife, Catherine Adam Langlands. His brother T. B. Barnes was also active in politics, later becoming a Labour Party councillor in Dundee.[1] The family moved back to England and settled atPonders End inMiddlesex, where his father managed ajute mill in which George himself began working at the age of eleven, after attending a church school atEnfield Highway. He then spent two years as anengineering apprentice, first at Powis James ofLambeth then at Parker's foundry,Dundee.
After finishing his apprenticeship he worked for two years at theVickers shipyard inBarrow before returning once again to theLondon area, where he experienced unemployment during the slump of 1879. He had a number of short-term jobs before settling for eight years atLucas and Aird inFulham.
During his time in London, Barnes became an active member of theAmalgamated Society of Engineers. He stood for the general secretaryship of the union in 1895, but was narrowly defeated by the incumbent,John Anderson. However, the following year, Anderson was dismissed for "wilful neglect of duty", and Barnes easily beat him in a new election.[2] Barnes was a committed member of theco-operative movement, and a keen if moderate socialist, which led him to join theIndependent Labour Party on its foundation in 1893.
At the1895 general election he stood unsuccessfully for theIndependent Labour Party inRochdale. He was elected asMP forGlasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown at the1906 general election for the Labour Party, becoming one of the first two Labour MPs to be elected inScotland.[3][4] He sat for Blackfriars and Hutchesontown until the constituency was abolished for the1918 general election, and thereafter sat forGlasgow Gorbals (which covered the same area) until he stood down at the1922 election.
Barnes was Leader of the Labour Party from 14 February 1910 to 6 February 1911. As of 2021[update], he is the shortest-serving Labour leader, remaining in the post for only 11 months. He wasMinister of Pensions (1916–1917), rising toMinister without Portfolio as one ofDavid Lloyd George's powerful five member war cabinet (1917–1920). In 1918 the Labour Party decided to leave theLloyd George Coalition but Barnes refused to resign. As a result, he was expelled from the Labour Party, and with theBritish Workers League founded the pro-coalitionNational Democratic and Labour Party, many of whose candidates were elected on theCoalition Coupon in December 1918. He also stood in 1918 under theCoalition Labour title. As a reward for his loyalty, he was a participant at the Paris Peace Conference, he was instrumental in the creation of theInternational Labour Organization (ILO),[5][6] he was a signatory to the Treaty of Versailles, he is featured inWilliam Orpen's famous painting of the treaty signing(seated second from the right), and he was lionised in the iconic painting, "Statesmen of World War I"(standing directly above Winston Churchill).
After resigning as a minister early in 1920 he played no further significant role inBritish politics. In March 1920 he was appointed aMember of the Order of the Companions of Honour for his ministerial services. He quit politics when the Labour Party announced that it would again field a candidate against him in thegeneral election of 1922. As it was clear that the tide would turn strongly towards the official Labour candidates throughout Glasgow, and as he had no wish to serve in any other party, he decided to withdraw from his seat.
Barnes had a long and active retirement, continuing to support theInternational Labour Organization, serving as chairman of the Co-operative Printing Society, and publishing several books, including his autobiography,From Workshop to War Cabinet (1923), and aHistory of the International Labour Office (1926). He was a pleasant-looking, mild-mannered man, but little is known about his private life. In 1882 he had married Jessie, daughter of Thomas Langlands, with whom he had two sons and a daughter; his youngest son was killed in action inFrance while serving as a Second Lieutenant with theGordon Highlanders during theFirst World War.[7]
In 1932, he became the first president of the pacific organizationThe New Commonwealth. He died in 1940 at his London home, and was buried in Fulham Cemetery.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forGlasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown 1906–1918 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forGlasgow Gorbals 1918–1922 | Succeeded by |
| Trade union offices | ||
| Preceded by | General Secretary of theAmalgamated Society of Engineers 1896–1908 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the British Labour Party 1910–1911 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| New post | Minister of Pensions 1916–1917 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister Without Portfolio representing Organised Labour 1917–1920 | Office abolished |
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