James Patrick Gardner

James Patrick Gardner (5 March 1883 - 25 July 1937) was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.

Born in Belfast, he was educated by the Christian Brothers there before taking up the trade of architectural sculptor. He moved to Hammersmith in West London, where he became a member of the borough council in 1919. He was also an official in the National Furnishing Trades Association.

In 1922 he was chosen by the Labour Party to contest the Conservative-held seat of Hammersmith North. He failed to be elected on that occasion, but when another election was held in the following year he was elected MP for North Hammersmith by the narrow margin of 845 votes. He was unseated after less than a year when a further election was held in October 1924. In 1926, Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, the MP for Hammersmith North, resigned. In the resulting by-election, held against the background of the General Strike, Gardner regained the seat with the substantial majority of 3,611 votes. He retained the seat at the 1929 general election. Following the election the Labour Party formed a minority government. This was subsequently replaced by a National Government in August 1931 leading to a split in the Labour Party. At the election held in October 1931 Gardner, like most Labour MPs opposing the government, was defeated.

Gardner did not return to parliamentary politics after his 1931 defeat, but was a member of Hammersmith council until his death.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by James Patrick Gardner

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir Henry Foreman	Member of Parliament for Hammersmith North 1923 – 1924	Succeeded by Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett
Preceded by Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett	Member of Parliament for Hammersmith North 1926 – 1931	Succeeded by Mary Pickford