Thomas Burt

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Thomas Burt (12 November 1837 – 12 April 1922) was a British trade unionist and one of the first working-class Members of Parliament. He became secretary of the Northumberland Miners' Association in 1863, then, in 1874, was elected to parliament, alongside Alexander MacDonald, a fellow miners' leader. Burt stood as a Radical labour candidate with Liberal support and formed part of a small group of Liberal-Labour politicians in the House of Commons in the 1880s and 1890s. He sat as MP for Morpeth from 1874 to 1918. After the 1892 General Election, William Gladstone appointed Burt as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, in which capacity he served until 1895.

Despite the emergence of the Independent Labour Party and the Labour Representation Committee, Burt remained loyal to his backers in the Liberal Party and refused to join. He was Father of the House in his final years in the House of Commons.

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• Thomas Burt

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir George Grey	Member of Parliament for Morpeth 1874–1918	Succeeded by John Cairns
Political offices
Preceded by William Matkin	President of the Trades Union Congress 1891	Succeeded by John Hodge
Preceded by John Kennaway	Father of the House 1910–1918	Succeeded by T.P. O'Connor