James Marley

Who was James Marley?

James Marley was a schoolmaster and a Labour politician who sat in the House of Commons between December 1923 and October 1924 and, again, between May 1929 and October 1931. He was the 7th and 9th M.P. for St Pancras. The constituency was created in 1885 and abolished in 1983, when it became part of the new constituency of Holborn and St Pancras.

In the General Election of 6 December 1923, James Marley won his first seat in Parliament with a 2872 gain for Labour over the previous Conservative incumbent, John William Lorden, in what was to become the first Labour Government. It was a short-lived victory for him and, in a hung parliament, his seat was taken, on 29 October 1924 in the General Election by his Conservative successor, Ian Fraser. He remained in politics, however, and was re-elected to the St Pancras seat once again in May 1929, holding the seat until 27 October 1931, when he fell prey to again to a hung parliament, the seat being retrieved by Ian Fraser for the Conservatives.