Burns , John Elliott , 1858-1943 , labour leader and politician

John Elliott Burns was born in Lambeth, London in 1858, into a poor family. He was apprenticed to an engineer but attended night schools and read radical literature, becoming involved in the Social Democratic Federation. In 1889 he won a seat on the London County Council, for Battersea. He soon became a dominant figure in the Council, due to his hard work and powerful personality. In 1892 he was elected MP for Battersea, standing as an independent candidate. In 1905 he was offered the presidency of the Local Government Board, the first working man to achieve rank in the cabinet. Burns resigned from the Government in 1914 in protest at the First World War and retired from public life. He died in 1943.