John Edward Sutton

Who was John Edward Sutton?

John Edward Sutton was a British trades unionist and Labour Party politician.

At the age of 14, Sutton took up employment at Bradford Colliery, Manchester. He became a check-weighman and secretary of the Bradford branch of the Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation. In 1894 he was elected to Manchester City Council as an Independent Labour Party councillor for Bradford ward, an area previously represented by Conservatives.

At the general election of January 1910 Sutton was elected as Labour Member of Parliament for Manchester East, the constituency that included the Bradford area. He held the seat until its abolition in 1918.

At the 1918 general election Sutton stood in the new seat of Manchester Clayton, losing to the Conservative, Edward Hopkinson. However Hopkinson died in 1922, forcing a by-election, and Sutton was selected as Labour candidate. The Coalition Government was very unpopular due to high unemployment and severe cutbacks recommended by the Geddes Report, and Sutton easily won the seat. He held the seat at subsequent general elections until 1931 when a large swing to the Conservatives was reflected in Clayton.