View source for Stoker Edwards

{{Short description|British politician (1900–1964)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Stoker Edwards
|image=
|alt=
|caption=
|office1=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]
|term_start1=8 August 1942
|term_end1=15 October 1964
|predecessor1=[[J. H. Hall]]
|successor1=[[Peter Shore]]
|constituency1={{ubl|[[Whitechapel and St Georges (UK Parliament constituency)|Whitechapel and St Georges]] (1942–1950)|[[Stepney (UK Parliament constituency)|Stepney]] (1950–1964)}}
|office2=[[Civil Lord of the Admiralty]]
|term_start2=1945
|term_end2=1951
|primeminister2=[[Clement Attlee]]
|predecessor2=
|successor2=[[Simon Wingfield Digby]]
|birth_name=Walter James Edwards
|birth_date={{birth year|1900}}
|birth_place=[[Whitechapel]], London, England
|death_date={{death date|1964|10|15|df=y}}
|death_place=
|party=[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|branch=[[Royal Navy]]
|rank=[[Leading seaman#United Kingdom|Leading stoker]]
|battles=[[Second World War]]
}}
'''Walter James Edwards''' (1900 – 15 October 1964), known as '''Stoker Edwards''' or '''Wally Edwards''', was a British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] politician.

Edwards was born in [[Whitechapel]], in the [[East End of London]]. He briefly worked as a [[Carman (disambiguation)|carman]] from 1917 and in 1918 enlisted in the [[Royal Navy]] as a [[Fireman (steam engine)|stoker]] and served until 1923. He then became a [[Stevedore|docker]]. He joined the Labour Party and the [[Transport and General Workers' Union]] and in 1937 was appointed a full-time officer with the union's Docks Group. From 1935 to 1939 he was chairman of the Whitechapel Labour Party.

In the [[Second World War]] he was recalled as a Naval reservist and rose to the rate of [[Leading Seaman|Leading Stoker]]. In 1942 he was elected as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Whitechapel and St Georges (UK Parliament constituency)|Whitechapel and St Georges]], the first serving Royal Navy rating to be elected to Parliament. Following boundary changes in 1950, he was elected for the new [[Stepney (UK Parliament constituency)|Stepney constituency]] and served until his retirement in 1964. He served as [[Civil Lord of the Admiralty]] from 1945 to 1951. A devout [[Roman Catholic]], he was known as a campaigner against [[prostitution]], which was a big problem in his constituency. He died on the day of the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]].

Edwards was elected to [[Stepney Borough Council]] in 1934 and served on it until 1959. In 1944–1945, when he was already an MP, he served as [[mayor]]. Edwards' only son, Teddy, was killed on active service in 1944. He also had a daughter, Catherine.

==References==
*Obituary, ''TGWU Record'', December 1964
*Obituary, ''[[The Times]]'', 16 October 1964
*{{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}

== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-walter-edwards | Walter Edwards }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef | before = [[James Henry Hall]] }}
{{s-ttl
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Whitechapel and St Georges (UK Parliament constituency)|Whitechapel and St Georges]]
  | years  = [[1942 Whitechapel and St George's by-election|1942]]–[[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950]]
}}
{{s-non | reason = Constituency abolished }}

{{s-new | constituency}}
{{s-ttl
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Stepney (UK Parliament constituency)|Stepney]]
  | years  = [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950]]–[[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964]]
}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Peter Shore]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Stoker}}
[[Category:1900 births]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Lords of the Admiralty]]
[[Category:Transport and General Workers' Union-sponsored MPs]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1935–1945]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1945–1950]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1950–1951]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1951–1955]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1955–1959]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1959–1964]]
[[Category:People from Whitechapel]]
[[Category:Royal Navy sailors]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Trade unionists from London]]
[[Category:Mayors of places in Greater London]]
[[Category:Members of Stepney Metropolitan Borough Council]]
[[Category:Admiralty personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951]]
[[Category:Military personnel from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets]]


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