D. J. Williams (politician)

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David James Williams (3 February 1897 – 12 September 1972) was a British miner and checkweighman who became a Labour Party Member of Parliament.

Contents

[edit] Coal mining career

Williams was born in Tairgwaith in the Amman Valley to a South Wales family and went only to elementary school, leaving to work as a miner. Active in the South Wales Miners' Federation, he was eventually promoted to the job of checkweighman, away from the coal face. In 1924 he wrote a pamphlet denouncing mine owners which was published by the Labour Publishing Company under the title "Capitalist Combination in the Coal Industry".

[edit] Political activity

In 1931 Williams was elected to Pontardawe Rural District Council near Neath as a Labour Party candidate, and also elected to the Executive Council of the South Wales Miners' Federation. He was a member of a Miners' delegation to Russia, and also studied at the Central Labour College in London.

[edit] Election

Sir William Jenkins, the MP for Neath, died in December 1944. As a local candidate, Williams won the sponsorship of the miners and was chosen to follow him; he was elected to Parliament at a byelection in May 1945. At the 1945 general election a few weeks later, his majority was among the highest in the country.

[edit] Parliament

Williams was strongly opposed to continuing conscription and voted against the Labour whip to end it. He denounced Welsh nationalism, supporting greater integration of the Welsh economy with that of the rest of Britain, and lauded the Attlee government for its achievements in promoting full employment. In 1948 he agreed to speak to a group of miners on unofficial strike to urge them to accept a new wages settlement, which led to a solution of the dispute. Williams disliked the Soviet Union and denounced it for threatening the smaller nations of Europe.

Williams opposed the Macmillan government's application for Britain to join the European Economic Community. In 1964, he urged the Conservative government to intervene in a dispute in the private Welsh steel industry by setting up a Court of Inquiry. Later that year Williams announced his retirement, stating that on medical advice his health would not stand up to another Parliament.

Williams and his wife Jenny, lived in Cilfrew on the outskirts of Neath.

Martyn Williams, a member of Williams' family currently holds the position of Youth Officer at the Neath Constituency Labour party.

[edit] References

  • Who Was Who
  • M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981)
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir William Jenkins		 Member of Parliament for Neath
1945–1964		 Succeeded by
Donald Coleman