David Shackleton

This article is about the British trade unionist. For the Australian naval officer, see David Shackleton (admiral).

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David Shackleton in the mid-1900s

Sir David James Shackleton (1863 – 1938) was a cotton worker and trade unionist who became the third Labour Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, following the formation of the Labour Representation Committee. He later became a senior civil servant.

Shackleton was born in Cloughfold near Rawtenstall, Lancashire. He became a cotton worker at the age of nine. He rose through the ranks of the cotton weavers' union and became general secretary of the Textile Factory Workers Association.

Although the textile workers had not yet joined the LRC, Shackleton was appointed its candidate for the Clitheroe by-election in 1902. Philip Snowden, who had been considered by the Independent Labour Party, withdrew from the race. The Liberals and Conservatives also withdrew, sensing Shackleton's strong lead. He was thus elected unopposed. The textile workers' unions affiliated to the LRC shortly afterwards. Shackleton served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party for a period.

Shackleton became chairman of the Trades Union Congress in 1906, maintaining his powerful position in the trade union movement. In 1910, Winston Churchill invited him to join the civil service and Shackleton left Parliament. He quickly rose to the rank of Permanent Secretary in the new Ministry of Labour and is considered the first man from a working-class background to rise to such a senior position.

References

• The Lancashire Giant: David Shackleton, Labour Leader and Civil Servant (2000), Ross M Martin, ISBN 0-85323-934-7

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by David Shackleton

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth	Member of Parliament for Clitheroe 1902–Dec 1910	Succeeded by Albert Smith
Party political offices
Preceded by John Hodge	Chair of the Labour Party 1904–1905	Succeeded by Arthur Henderson
Trade union offices
Preceded by Joseph Nicholas Bell and Allan Gee	Trades Union Congress representative to the American Federation of Labour 1907 With: John Hodge	Succeeded by Herbert Skinner and John Wadsworth
Preceded by David Holmes	President of the Northern Counties Amalgamated Association of Weavers 1906 – 1910	Succeeded by John William Ogden
Preceded by Alfred Gill	President of the Trades Union Congress 1908 and 1909	Succeeded by James Haslam