John Johnson (British politician)
# John Johnson (British politician)

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

## 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 | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal | John Johnson | 9,651 | 65.3 |
| | Liberal Unionist | Sir Theodore Vivian Samuel Angier | 5,126 | 34.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,525 | 30.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 79.4 |
| | Liberal hold | 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 Miners Eight Hours Act, which brought him opposition from many miners in Gateshead. Johnson finished in third place as the Liberals re-gained the seat.

General election January 1910 Electorate 19,138 :

| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 477 | 2.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 87.2 | +7.8 |
| | Liberal gain from Labour | Liberal gain from Labour | Swing | +42.3 | |

He died in December 1910 at the age of 60 in Durham, England.

