John Jagger was a British trade unionist and Labour Party

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. After a career in business and trade union leadership, he won a seat in the House of Commons in 1935, and held it until his death in a road accident.

Career

Jagger spent the early part of his career in business, and travelled for four years as a business manager in India, China and Burma. He then became a departmental manager in co-operative stores.

He was chairman of the York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

 Trades and Labour Council, and became president of the Amalgamated Union of Co-Operative Employees, of which he was the chief founder. In 1921 he became general president of the National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers, and held that post until he entered Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 in 1935.

At the 1935 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1935

The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...

, he was elected as the 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,...

 (MP) for Manchester Clayton

Manchester Clayton (UK Parliament constituency)

Manchester Clayton was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Manchester. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....

, defeating the 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...

 MP William Flanagan

William Henry Flanagan

-External links:...

. The seat had been won by Flanagan in 1931

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...

 after it had been held by Labour since 1922

Manchester Clayton by-election, 1922

The Manchester Clayton by-election of 18 February 1922 was held after the death of the Conservative politician and Member of Parliament Edward Hopkinson. Labour took the seat in the by-election...

.

In December 1935 he was a speaker at the Congress of Peace and Friendship with Russia, held in Friends House on the Euston Road

Euston Road

Euston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...

 in London.
In July 1936, he was one eleven MPs who sent a telegram to Prime Minister of Spain

Prime Minister of Spain

The President of the Government of Spain , sometimes known in English as the Prime Minister of Spain, is the head of Government of Spain. The current office is established under the Constitution of 1978...

 expressing their "admiration of the heroic fight being put up by the Spanish people against the attack of Fascists". The MPs pledged themselves "to do everything in our power to rally behind your struggle the whole British people".

In 1938, he was one of the Labour MPs who visited Spain during the Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

. In May 1940, when Herbert Morrison

Herbert Morrison

Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, CH, PC was a British Labour politician; he held a various number of senior positions in the Cabinet, including Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.-Early life:Morrison was the son of a police constable and was born in...

 became Minister of Supply

Minister of Supply

The Minister of Supply was the minister in the British Government responsible for the Ministry of Supply, which existed to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to the national armed forces...

 in the wartime coalition government, Jagger was appointed as his Parliamentary Private Secretary

Parliamentary Private Secretary

A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...

 (PPS). Morrison was promoted to Home Secretary

Home Secretary

The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...

 in October 1940, and Jagger remained his PPS in the new post.

Death

In July 1942, the 69-year-old Jagger had been staying in a cottage in Beaconsfield

Beaconsfield

Beaconsfield is a market town and civil parish operating as a town council within the South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire, England. It lies northwest of Charing Cross in Central London, and south-east of the county town of Aylesbury...

 in Buckinghamshire. On 9 July he was riding his motorcycle

Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

 to Beaconsfield railway station

Beaconsfield railway station

Beaconsfield railway station is the railway station of the town of Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire. The station is served by Chiltern Railways trains from Marylebone towards High Wycombe and Birmingham Snow Hill and is situated between Seer Green & Jordans and High Wycombe stations.-Background:The...

 when he collided with a car, and was killed instantly. His death caused a by-election in Manchester Clayton, when the seat was held for Labour by Harry Thorneycroft

Harry Thorneycroft

Harry Thorneycroft was a British hairdresser and Labour Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1942 to 1955.He was educated at an elementary school, and began work in a hairdresser's shop at the age of 9...

.

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