William Johnson

William Johnson MBE (c. 1849 – 20 July 1919) was an English coal miner, trade unionist and Liberal-Labour (Lib-Lab) politician from Warwickshire. He sat in the House of Commons from 1906 to 1918.

Early life Johnson was born in Chilvers Coton, which was then a small village near the town of Nuneaton in Warwickshire, the youngest son of John Johnson, a collier. He was educated at Collycroft School, and began work young, in both factories and collieries. He was unsuccessful again at the 1900 general election, when he contested the Nuneaton division, but by a narrower margin of 12.8%. He won the seat on his attempt, at the 1906 general election, and remained the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nuneaton until he retired from Parliament at the 1918 general election.

Although first elected as a Liberal party (Lib-Lab) MP, Johnson was required to take the Labour party whip in 1909. This was because of a decision by the Miners Federation of Great Britain, to affiliate to the Labour party. This decision was not popular with the Warwickshire Miners Association or Johnson's local Constituency Party, which refused to affiliate to the Labour party. In 1914, Labour Party HQ in London decided to set up a rival Constituency party in Nuneaton and Johnson continued to sit in parliament as a Liberal.

Personal life In 1868, Johnson married Priscilla Davenport, who died in 1906. He married again in 1908, to Anne, the widow of W. Copson of Leicester.