View source for Oliver Wright (trade unionist)

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'''Oliver Walter Wright''' (1881 – 21 January 1938) was an [[English people|English]] [[trade unionist]] and political activist.
Born in [[Swanwick, Derbyshire|Swanwick]] in [[Derbyshire]], Wright began working in a coal mine at the age of nine.  He later worked for the Butterley Company, and in 1920 was elected as lodge secretary for the [[Derbyshire Miners' Association]] (DMA), and as a delegate to its council.  He stood for the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] in [[Belper (UK Parliament constituency)|Belper]] at the [[1922 United Kingdom general election|1922 general election]].<ref name="williams586">J. E. Williams, ''The Derbyshire Miners'', pp.586-587</ref>  Unusually, he was nominated by the local Labour Party, but later acquired the sponsorship of the DMA after it failed to agree an alternative candidate.<ref>J. E. Williams, ''The Derbyshire Miners'', pp.814-815</ref>  He was not elected and, although he stood again in [[1923 United Kingdom general election|1923]], his vote fell.  He was nominated again as a candidate for the [[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924 general election]], but given his poor performance, decided it wise to withdraw and instead back another candidate - he hoped [[Hugh Dalton]] would stand, although ultimately he did not.  Following this, Wright decided to restand as the DMA nominee, but lost the nomination to [[Jack Lees]].<ref>J. E. Williams, ''The Derbyshire Miners'', pp.826-827</ref>
Wright then devoted his time to the union.  He was appointed as one of its trustees, and in 1928 beat eleven other candidates, including [[Joseph Lynch (trade unionist)|Joseph Lynch]] and Samuel Sales, to become the DMA's treasurer.  He served in the post for ten years, but he suffered from poor health and had to take frequent absences due to illness.  He died, still in office, in 1938.<ref name="williams586" />
==References==
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{{succession box|title=Treasurer of the [[Derbyshire Miners' Association]]|years=1928 – 1938|before=[[Harry Hicken]]|after=[[Joseph Lynch (trade unionist)|Joseph Lynch]]}}
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[[Category:1881 births]]
[[Category:1938 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Amber Valley]]
[[Category:Trade unionists from Derbyshire]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates]]
[[Category:British trade union leaders]]