John Hodge (29 October 1855 – 10 August 1937) was aLabour Party and laterCoalition Labour politician in the United Kingdom. He was the UK's firstMinister of Labour, and the secondMinister of Pensions.
Hodge was born inLinkeyburn, Ayrshire and attended Ironworks School and Hutchesons' Grammar School. When he was thirteen Hodge left school to become a solicitor's clerk and then worked a grocer's shop before joining the local iron works as apuddler—the same job as his father.
Hodge first became involved withtrade unionism while at the local iron works. Hodge helped form theBritish Steel Smelters' Association in 1885, of which he would be elected secretary, after bosses atColville inMotherwell informed workers that their wages would be twenty per cent lower than before. The BSSA was a success and by the summer of 1886 practically every smelter inScotland had become a member and by 1888 the BSSA had members joining from England andWales and become affiliated with theTUC. The BSSA rarely organised strikes, but Hodge was successful at negotiating increases in wages.
Hodge also helped form theAssociated Society of Millmen, acting as its secretary and treasurer for a year before its members could hold an election.[1]
Hodge was a member of theManchester City Council from 1897 to 1901.[citation needed]
At the1900 general election, Hodge unsuccessfully contestedGower.[2]He was unsuccessful again inPreston at theby-election in May 1903.[2]
He finally won a seat at the1906 general election, when he was elected as theLabour Party Member of Parliament forManchester Gorton.[2]When the United Kingdom declared war and enteredWorld War I in 1914, Hodge took a very patriotic stance and criticised other Labour politicians for opposing it. From 1915 to 1916 Hodge was Acting Chairman of the Labour Party. In 1916 he was part of theMesopotamia Commission of Inquiry. He was also elected as president of theBritish Iron, Steel & Kindred Trades Association which he had helped to form with other iron and steelunions. He was Chairman of the 'patriotic labour'British Worker's National League[3]
From December 1916 to August 1917, Hodge was the firstMinister of Labour and had a seat in the Cabinet. At this job Hodge claimed that all strikes during war-time were acts oftreason and Hodge successfully made striking boilermakers to go back to work by threatening to charge them under theDefence of the Realm Act. Hodge supported the Empire Resources Department Committee, signing its manifesto.[4] From August 1917 to January 1919, Hodge wasMinister of Pensions in theLloyd George Coalition Government. In 1919 he appeared in the filmBroken in the Wars directed byCecil Hepworth to advertise a fund set up for ex-servicemen.
Hodge kept his seat in both thegeneral election of 1918 and thegeneral election of 1922 but retired fromParliament at thegeneral election of 1923. Hodge continued to argue against strikes during theGeneral Strike of 1926 and retired from the presidency of the British Iron, Steel & Kindred Trades Association in 1931.
Hodge was turned down for military service because he was too old.Arthur Griffith-Boscawen, who served under Hodge, called him a "fat, rampaging and most patriotic Tory working man".[5]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forManchester Gorton 1906–1923 | Succeeded by |
| Trade union offices | ||
| Preceded by New position | General Secretary of theBritish Steel Smelters' Association 1886 – 1917 | Succeeded by Position abolished |
| Preceded by New position | General Secretary of theAssociated Society of Millmen 1888 – 1889 | Succeeded by John Cronin |
| Preceded by | President of the Trades Union Congress 1892 | Succeeded by Samuel Munro |
| Preceded by | Trades Union Congress representative to theAmerican Federation of Labour 1907 With:David Shackleton | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by New position | President of theIron and Steel Trades Confederation 1917 – 1931 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| New title | Minister of Labour 1916–1917 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Pensions 1917–1919 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Annual Conference of theLabour Representation Committee 1901 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of theLabour Representation Committee 1903–1904 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Annual Conference of theLabour Representation Committee 1904 | Succeeded by |
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