# Joseph Cleary > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Joseph_Cleary > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Joseph_Cleary.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Cleary > Source revision: 1350853097 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) British Labour Party politician Sir Joseph Cleary J.P. Lord Mayor of Liverpool In office 1949–1950 Preceded by Walter Thomas Lancashire Succeeded by Harry Dixon Longbottom Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree In office 6 February 1935 – 25 October 1935 Preceded by Ronald Nall-Cain Succeeded by Peter Stapleton Shaw Personal details Born (1902-10-26)26 October 1902 Died 9 February 1993(1993-02-09) (aged 90) Party Labour **Sir Joseph Jackson Cleary**, [JP](/source/Justice_of_the_peace) (26 October 1902 – 9 February 1993) was a British [Labour Party](/source/Labour_Party_(UK)) politician. ## Early life Joseph Cleary was born in the [West Derby](/source/West_Derby) district of [Liverpool](/source/Liverpool) 26 October 1902 .[1] He was educated at Holy Trinity School, [Anfield](/source/Anfield) and at [Skerry's College](/source/Skerry's_College), Liverpool. ## Career Cleary was appointed a Liverpool [justice of the peace](/source/Justice_of_the_peace) in 1927. A member of the Labour Party, he contested the [1929 East Toxteth by-election](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1929_East_Toxteth_by-election&action=edit&redlink=1) and fought the seat again at the [general election later that year](/source/1929_United_Kingdom_general_election), performing creditably in a safe [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)) seat. In the [1931 general election](/source/1931_United_Kingdom_general_election) Cleary fought the [West Derby division of Liverpool](/source/West_Derby_(UK_Parliament_constituency)). This was a terrible year for Labour and his Conservative opponent trounced him by over 23,000 votes.[2] He was the councillor for Garston ward from 1927 to 1941. In 1934, [Liverpool Wavertree](/source/Liverpool_Wavertree_(UK_Parliament_constituency))'s Conservative [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) (MP) [Ronald Nall-Cain](/source/Ronald_Nall-Cain%2C_2nd_Baron_Brocket) succeeded to the peerage, and Cleary was selected as the Labour candidate for the [resulting by-election on 6 February 1935](/source/1935_Liverpool_Wavertree_by-election). With the Conservative vote split by the presence of [Winston Churchill](/source/Winston_Churchill)'s son [Randolph](/source/Randolph_Churchill) as an independent Conservative candidate, Cleary won the seat with the largest [swing](/source/Swing_(politics)) ever recorded between the Conservative and Labour parties.[2] At 30% (from Conservative to Labour) it remains unsurpassed to this day. Cleary's victory was to last just 281 days, making him one of the shortest-serving MPs of the 20th century. At the [general election in November 1935](/source/1935_United_Kingdom_general_election), he lost by almost 8,000 votes in a straight fight with the Conservatives. ## Later life Cleary was made an [Alderman](/source/Alderman) of Liverpool in 1941 and leader of the Labour group from 1935 to 1948. He undertook lecture-tours to British Forces in the [Middle East](/source/Middle_East) in 1945. Later that year he married Ethel McColl. He was [Lord Mayor of Liverpool](/source/Lord_Mayor_of_Liverpool) 1949–50. Twenty years after losing his seat in the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom), he re-entered the fray to contest [Liverpool Walton](/source/Liverpool_Walton_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) in the [1955 general election](/source/1955_United_Kingdom_general_election). This is the longest gap recorded of any former MP in trying to return to Parliament.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] He was unsuccessful, but did obtain a small swing against the national trend.[3] He was [knighted](/source/Knight_Bachelor) in the [1965 Queen's Birthday Honours List](/source/1965_Birthday_Honours) and made a [Freeman](/source/Freedom_of_the_City) of the City of Liverpool in 1970. Cleary served as a director of the [Mersey Docks and Harbour Board](/source/Mersey_Docks_and_Harbour_Board) until 1970. He died in [Garston](/source/Garston%2C_Liverpool) on 9 February 1993, aged 90. Sir Joseph Cleary enjoyed one of the longest post-service lifespans of any former MP, at 57 years and 87 days. This record was broken in October 2002 by [Horace Trevor-Cox](/source/Horace_Trevor-Cox).[4] ## See also [List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service](/source/List_of_United_Kingdom_MPs_with_the_shortest_service) - [UK by-election records](/source/UK_by-election_records) ## Notes and references 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Obituary](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sir-joseph-cleary-1473610.html), *The Independent* 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Craig_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Craig_2-1) [Craig, F. W. S.](/source/F._W._S._Craig) (1983) [1969]. *British parliamentary election results 1918-1949* (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-900178-06-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-900178-06-X). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["UK General Election results May 1955"](https://web.archive.org/web/20060925064259/http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge55/i13.htm). Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Archived from [the original](http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge55/i13.htm) on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 4 October 2007. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Joseph Sweeney](/source/Joseph_Sweeney_(Irish_politician)) was elected [Sinn Féin](/source/Sinn_F%C3%A9in) member for [West Donegal](/source/West_Donegal_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) in 1918, aged 21. He did not take his seat in the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom), but sat in the [Dáil Éireann](/source/D%C3%A1il_%C3%89ireann). He died in 1980, some 58 years after the last occasion in 1922 that he could have taken his seat. Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by Ronald Nall-Cain Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree February 1935–November 1935 Succeeded by Peter Shaw --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joseph Cleary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Cleary) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Cleary?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.