Joseph Jackson Cleary

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Sir Joseph Jackson Cleary, JP (26 October 1902 – 9 February 1993) was a British Labour Party politician.

1 Early life
2 Wavertree by-election
3 Later life
4 Notes
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Early life

Joseph Cleary was born in the West Derby district of Liverpool in 1902. He was educated at Holy Trinity School, Anfield and at Skerry's College, Liverpool.

Cleary was appointed a Liverpool Justice of the Peace in 1927. A member of the Labour Party, he contested the East Toxteth, by-election, 1929 and in the General Election later that year, performing creditably in a safe Conservative seat. In the 1931 General Election Cleary fought the West Derby division of Liverpool. This was a terrible year for Labour and his Conservative opponent trounced him by over 23,000 votes.

[edit] Wavertree by-election

The Liverpool Wavertree by-election, 1935 was to see the largest swing ever recorded between the Conservative and Labour parties. At 30.0% (from Conservative to Labour) it remains unsurpassed to this day.

Liverpool Wavertree by-election, 1935
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Jackson Cleary	15,611	35.3	+13.2
	Conservative	James Platt	13,711	31.2	−46.7
	Independent Conservative	Randolph Churchill	10,575	23.9	N/A
	Liberal	A.Morris	4,208	9.5	N/A
Majority			1,840	4.1
Turnout			44,165	72.3	−2.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	−30.0

Cleary's victory was to last just 281 days, making him one of the shortest-serving MPs of the 20th century. In November, at the General Election, he lost by almost 8,000 votes in a straight fight with the Conservatives.

[edit] Later life

Cleary was made an Alderman of Liverpool in 1941. He undertook lecture-tours to British Forces in the Middle East in 1945. Later that year he married Ellen McColl.

Cleary served as Lord Mayor of Liverpool 1949-50.

In 1955, 20 years after losing his seat in the House of Commons, he reentered the fray to contest Liverpool Walton in the General Election. This is the longest gap recorded of any former MP in trying to return to Parliament. He was unsuccessful, but did obtain a small swing against the national trend.

He was knighted in 1965 and made a Freeman of the City of Liverpool in 1970.

Cleary served as a director of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board until 1970.

He died in 1993, aged 90.

Sir Joseph Cleary enjoyed the longest post-service lifespan of any former MP, at 57 years and 87 days. This record is due to be broken on 23 May 2007 by Ernest Rogers Millington¹.

[edit] Notes

¹ Joseph Aloysius Sweeney was elected Sinn Fein member for West Donegal in 1918, aged 21. He did not take his seat in the House of Commons, but sat in the Dail Eireann. He is believed to have died in 1980, some 57 years after the last occasion in 1922 that he could have taken his seat.

Patrick Joseph Whitty was elected Irish Nationalist member for North Louth in 1916, aged 21. He took his seat and sat until 1918. His date of death is unascertained.