John Edward Sutton

John Edward Sutton (December 23, 1862 - November 29, 1945) was a British trades unionist and Labour 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."Progress of the General Election", January 17, 1910, p.7] In 1894 he was elected as to Manchester City Council as an Independent Labour Party councillor for Bradford ward, an area previously represented by Conservatives. [James Robert Moore, "Progressive Pioneers: Manchester Liberalism, the Independent Labour Party and Local Politics in the 1890s", in "The Historical Journal", Vol.44, No.4, December 2001]

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. ["Manchester Calm, The Cobden Gospel, "Walk Over" For Mr. Clynes.", The Times, December 4, 1918, p. 10] However Hopkinson died in 1922, forcing a bye-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. ["Labour Win at Clayton", The Times, February 20, 1922, p.10] He held the seat at subsequent general elections until 1931 when a large swing to the Conservatives was reflected in Clayton. William Flanagan, Sutton's opponent in the 1922 by-election took the seat. Sutton did not contest another parliamentary election.

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