James Frederick Shillaker (28 January 1870 - 20 July 1943) was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 politician.

He was born in the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

, and was the son of a police

City of London Police

The City of London Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the City of London, England, including the Middle and Inner Temple. The service responsible for law enforcement within the rest of Greater London is the Metropolitan Police Service, a separate...

 sergeant. He was educated at Taplow

Taplow

Taplow is a village and civil parish within South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the east bank of the River Thames facing Maidenhead on the opposite bank. Taplow railway station is situated near the A4 south of the village....

 Grammar School and the City of London College, benefiting from an educational foundation established in the 17th century for chldren of the parish of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, also known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , is an Anglican church in the City of London. It is located on Holborn Viaduct, almost opposite the Old Bailey...

.

In 1890 he was one of the founding members of the Fawcett Association

Union of Communication Workers

The Union of Communication Workers was a trade union in the United Kingdom for workers in the post office and telecommunications industries. It was founded in 1919 as the Union of Post Office Workers by the merger of the Postmen's Federation, Postal and Telegraph Clerks' Association and the...

, a trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 of post office sorters, and in 1892 he joined the Labour Party in Islington

Islington

Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...

. He was subsequently to become one of the first councillors for the party on Acton Urban District Council

Municipal Borough of Acton

Acton was a local government district in Middlesex, England from 1865 to 1965.In 1865 the Local Government Act 1858 was adopted by the parish of Acton, and a twelve-member local board of health was formed to govern the area. The Local Government Act 1894 constituted the area an urban district, and...

.

In 1891 he married Carrie Heaton, and they had one son.

He moved from the post office to the Ministry of Pensions

Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance

The Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance or MPNI was a British government ministry responsible for the administration and delivery of welfare benefits...

, where he was deputy regional director of the northern region from 1919 - 1923. He also edited a "lonely hearts

Lonely Hearts

Lonely Hearts is a 2006 American film directed and written by Todd Robinson. It is based on the true story of the notorious "Lonely Hearts Killers" of the 1940s, Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez...

" column entitled Friends in Council in T. P.'s Weekly for fourteen years.

In 1929

United Kingdom general election, 1929

-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...

 he was chosen by the Labour Party to contest the parliamentary seat of Acton

Acton (UK Parliament constituency)

- Elections in the 1940s :- Elections in the 1960s :-References:...

. He was successful in a three-cornered contest, unseating the sitting Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 member of parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

, Sir Harry Brittain

Harry Brittain

Sir Henry Ernest Brittain, KBE was a British journalist and Conservative politician.Harry Brittain, as he was known, was born at Ranmoor, Sheffield, and was the son of W. H. Brittain...

 by 467 votes. Two years later there was a further general election

United Kingdom general election, 1931

The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...

. This time it was a straight fight between Shillaker and his Conservative opponent H J Duggan

Hubert Duggan

Hubert John Duggan was a British Army officer and politician, who was Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Acton from 1931 until his death...

. There was a large swing against Labour, and Duggan won the seat by a convincing majority of 12,272 votes.

Shillaker did not stand for election again. In July 1943 he died suddenly at the House of Commons while visiting Labour MP Frederick Pethick-Lawrence

Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence

Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence PC was a British Labour politician.-Background and education:...

.

External links