Alexander Wilkie

Alexander Wilkie (30 September 1850 – 2 September 1928) was a Labour Party politician in Scotland, best known for his service as a Member of Parliament for Dundee. Along with the Dundonian George Nicoll Barnes, Wilkie was one of the first-ever Labour MPs elected in Scotland.[1][2]

Alexander Wilkie
Wilkie in the mid 1900s.
Member of Parliament for Dundee
In office 8 February 1906 – 26 October 1922 Serving with Edmund Robertson (1906-1908), Winston Churchill (1908-1922)
Preceded by	John Leng Edmund Robertson
Succeeded by	E. D. Morel Edwin Scrymgeour
Personal details
Born	30 September 1850 Fife, Scotland, UK
Died	2 September 1928 (aged 77)
Political party	Labour

Biography

Wilkie was born in Fife in 1850 and, until his political career, was a ship carpenter.[3] Wilkie was known for his work in the Labour movement serving as general secretary of the Ship Constructive and Shipwrights Association. He helped to form Labour Representation Committee and visited the United States as a member of the Mosely Commission in 1902.[3]

He unsuccessfully contested the Sunderland constituency at the 1900 general election[4] but was elected to the House of Commons at the 1906 general election as one of the two Members of Parliament for Dundee.[4] Wilkie's election has been argued to be an important part of a broader process of political change in Dundee, which saw the city's electorate move from supporting the Liberal Party to supporting the Labour Party.[5]

While he was an MP, Wilkie was a trustee of both University College, Dundee and the Dundee Technical College and School of Art.[6] He also contributed to The Tocsin, a monthly periodical that backed the Labour Party in Dundee and was edited by Joseph Lee.[7]

From 1908 to 1922, his colleague as MP for Dundee was a future British prime minister, then a Liberal MP, Winston Churchill. At the 1918 general election, both Wilkie and Churchill were supported by the local Unionists as well as their own party organisations. In Wilkie's case, that reflected both the fact that his political views had moved to the right since 1914 as well as his support for British involvement in the Great War.[7][8] The Glasgow Herald noted in 1918 that Wilkie had "never been regarded as a rabid socialist" and had won support from many Liberal voters in the past because of his "moderate" opinions.[9]

It was reported in 1920 that Wilkie would retire at the next general election.[10] Wilkie stood down at the 1922 general election.[11]

References

1. "Tracing the development of Red Scotland". Archives, Records and Artefacts at the University of Dundee. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
2. "MS 325 Dundee City Labour Party". Archive Services Online Catalogue. University of Dundee. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
3. The Times House of Commons 1910. London: John Parkinson Bland at the Times Office. 1910. p. 94.
4. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
5. Baxter, Kenneth; Kenefick William (2011). "Labour Politics and the Dundee Working Class c 1895-1936". In Jim Tomlinson and Christopher A. Whatley (ed.). Jute No More. Dundee: Dundee University Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-1-84586-090-5.
6. The Dundee Directory 1911-1912. Dundee: James P. Mathew & Co. 1911. pp. 94–95. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
7. Baxter, Kenneth. "General Election Special 1: Parliamentary Elections in Dundee 1910-2010". Archives, Records and Artefacts at the University of Dundee. University of Dundee. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
8. Baxter, Kenneth; Kenefick William (2011). "Labour Politics and the Dundee Working Class c 1895-1936". In Jim Tomlinson and Christopher A. Whatley (ed.). Jute No More. Dundee: Dundee University Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-84586-090-5.
9. "Dundee Trouble in the Labour Camp". The Glasgow Herald (136th year No. 284). 27 November 1918. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
10. "Why Wilkie is Retiring". Evening Telegraph and Post. 14 January 1920. p. 2.
11. Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Alexander Wilkie