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Sir William Lawther (20 May 1889 – 1 February 1976) was a politician and trade union leader in the United Kingdom.

Born in Choppington, in Northumberland, Lawther was educated at Choppington Colliery School, then became a coal miner. He became active in the Northumberland Miners' Association, which funded him to study at the Central Labour College.^[1]

Lawther was active in the Labour Party, standing unsuccessfully for the party in South Shields at the 1922, 1923 and 1924 United Kingdom general elections. From 1925 to 1929, he served on Durham County Council. At the 1929 general election, he switched to contest Barnard Castle, winning the seat, though he was defeated in 1931.^[1]

Out of Parliament, Lawther returned to trade unionism. He was elected to the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in 1935, and as President of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) in 1939. The MFGB became the National Union of Mineworkers, with Lawther remaining president. In 1949, he was President of the TUC, and later that year, he was knighted.^[1]

Lawther retired from his trade union posts in 1954, and died in 1976 aged 86.^[1] Since his death, declassified archives have shown that Will Lawther had covertly been working with a secret Cold War propaganda department attached to the British Foreign Office called the Information Research Department, and was paid by the British government to promote anti-communist material.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Stenton, Michael; Lees, Stephen (1979). Who's Who of British Members of Parliament. Vol. III. Brighton: Harvester Press. p. 204. ISBN 0855273259.
^ Defty, Andrew (2005). Britain, America and Anti-Communist Propaganda 1945–1953: The Information Research Department. eBook version: Routledge. p. 87.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Will Lawther
Portraits of William Lawther photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, London
Lawther, Sir William (1889–1976) Knight Politician and Trade Unionist – nationalarchives.gov.uk
Newspaper clippings about Will Lawther in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Cuthbert Headlam	Member of Parliament for Barnard Castle 1929–1931	Succeeded by Cuthbert Headlam
Trade union offices
Preceded by S. O. Davies	Vice-President of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) 1934–1939	Succeeded by Jim Bowman
Preceded by Joseph Jones	President of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) 1939–1945	Succeeded by Position abolished
Preceded by New position	President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) 1945–1954	Succeeded by Ernest Jones
Preceded by Ebby Edwards	Secretary of the Miners' International Federation 1947–1957	Succeeded by Ernest Jones
Preceded by Florence Hancock	President of the Trades Union Congress 1949	Succeeded by Herbert Bullock
Preceded by Lincoln Evans and Tom Williamson	Trades Union Congress representative to the American Federation of Labour 1950 With: Florence Hancock	Succeeded by Jim Kelly and Tom Yates

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[stenton-1] Stenton, Michael; Lees, Stephen (1979). Who's Who of British Members of Parliament. Vol. III. Brighton: Harvester Press. p. 204. ISBN 0855273259.

[2] Defty, Andrew (2005). Britain, America and Anti-Communist Propaganda 1945–1953: The Information Research Department. eBook version: Routledge. p. 87.

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