William Tyson Wilson was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

ist and Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 politician.

Tyson was born in Westmorland

Westmorland

Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...

, moving to Bolton

Bolton

Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

, Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, in 1889. He was a carpenter, and joined the Bolton branch of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners

Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners

The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners was a New Model Trade Union in the 1860s in the United Kingdom, representing carpenters and joiners....

. He was a member of the executive or general council of the union on several occasions from 1893, and was chairman of the general council in 1910.

At the 1906 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1906

-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...

 Wilson was one of 29 successful Labour Representation Committee candidates, being elected MP

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Westhoughton

Westhoughton (UK Parliament constituency)

Westhoughton was a parliamentary constituency in Lancashire, England. Centred on the former mining and cotton town of Westhoughton, it returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

. On 22 February 1906 he introduced a private member's bill

Private Member's Bill

A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...

 seeking to amend the Education Acts

Education Act 1902

The Education Act 1902 , also known as Balfour's Act, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom affecting education in England and Wales. At the time of passage of the Act, the Conservative Party was in power...

 and create a statutory school meals service. The bill received the support of the government and was enacted as the Education (Provision of Meals) Act 1906

Education (Provision of Meals) Act 1906

The Education Act 1906 is an Act of the Parliament of the United KingdomMargaret McMillan and Fred Jowett were members of the School Board which introduced free school meals in Bradford. This was actually illegal and the School Board could have been forced to end this service...

.

He was made a whip

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

 in 1915, and was promoted to chief whip

Labour Chief Whip

This is a list of those people who have served as Chief Whip of the Labour Party in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-House of Commons:*1906: David Shackleton*1906: Arthur Henderson*1907: George Roberts*1914: Arthur Henderson*1914: Frank Goldstone...

 in 1919, when the Labour Party became the official opposition

Opposition (politics)

In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government , party or group in political control of a city, region, state or country...

.

W T Wilson died suddenly of a cerebral haemmorhage on a Bolton street on Sunday, 14 August 1921.

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