Richard Sleath was an Australian politician.

Born in Cerres in Fifeshire to ploughman Richard Sleath and Mary Fernie, he migrated to Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 in 1877, becoming a shearer and prospector. In 1882 he moved to Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, working as a contractor before mining at Broken Hill from 1887. On 11 March 1887 he married Jane Dawson, with whom he had four sons. He helped found the first Socialist League at Broken Hill and was a member of the central executive of the Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 in 1898. In 1894 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 as the Labour

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 member for Wilcannia

Electoral district of Wilcannia

Wilcannia was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1889 to 1904. The electorate included Wilcannia. Its first member was the son of Charles Dickens.-Members for Wilcannia:...

. He lost his Labour endorsement in 1901 but was re-elected as an Independent Labor

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 candidate, losing his seat in 1904. In 1917 Sleath, a supporter of conscription

Conscription

Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

, joined the Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party of Australia

The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...

. He died in Sydney in 1922.