Alfred Barnes

Alfred Barnes may refer to:

Alfred Barnes (Derbyshire politician)

Alfred Barnes (1823 – 28 November 1901) was a British Liberal Party and later Liberal Unionist Party politician.

Biography

Barnes was the youngest son of John Gorrell Barnes, of Ashgate, Derbyshire, and was educated at a private school at Worksop. He married, in 1854, Charlotte Wilson, daughter of Thomas Wilson, of Liverpool.

In 1846 he leased a large area of coal-ground in Derbyshire, and was one of the first to develop the Derbyshire coalfield. He was successful, owning one of the finest collieries in the county at the time of his death. He was also a large shareholder in several railway companies.

At the 1880 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Derbyshire East. When that constituency was abolished in the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, he was returned to the House of Commons for the new Chesterfield constituency.

When the Liberal Party split over the Irish Government Bill 1886, Barnes was re-elected at the 1886 general election as a Liberal Unionist, and held his seat until the 1892 general election.

Alfred Barnes (Labour politician)

Alfred John Barnes PC (1887 – 26 November 1974) was a British Labour Co-operative politician.

Born in North Woolwich, he was the youngest child of William Barnes, a docker. Barnes lost a leg in a fairground accident at the age of 8. He was educated at the Northampton Institute and the Central School of Arts and Crafts.

Barnes worked originally as an artist in gold and silver. He was an early member of the Independent Labour Party and was heavily involved in the co-operative movement. He was chairman of the London Co-operative Society for nine years until 1923 and was a founder of the Co-operative Party. He became the Party's chairman in 1924 and served until 1945. He was also a director and President of the National Cooperative Publishing Society.

In November 1922, Barnes was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Ham South. In 1925 he was appointed a Labour Whip and served as a whip in Government, as Junior Lord of the Treasury. However, he was forced to resign in October 1930 - although his position as a director of the National Cooperative Publishing Society was unpaid, parliamentary rules dictated that a minister cannot be a director of a public company (although they could be of a private company): Barnes chose to remain on the co-op board rather than as a whip. Like many Labour MPs, he lost his seat in the 1931 general election but regained it in 1935.