A. A. Purcell

Who is A. A. Purcell?

Albert Arthur Purcell was a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician. He was President of the International Federation of Trade Unions from 1924 to 1928, and sat in the House of Commons in two separate periods between 1923 and 1929.

Purcell was elected at the December 1923 general election as the Member of Parliament for the city of Coventry, defeating the sitting Conservative MP Sir Edward Manville. However, at the next general election, in October 1924, he was defeated by the Conservative candidate 1923 general election.

However, Purcell was out of Parliament for only 9 months. James Wignall, the Labour MP for the Forest of Dean division of Gloucestershire, died in June 1925, and at the resulting by-election on 14 July, Purcell won the seat. He did not defend that seat at the 1929 general election, but stood instead in Manchester Moss Side, where he was defeated by the sitting Conservative MP Sir Gerald Berkeley Hurst.