Alfred Balfour

Alfred Balfour (7 September 1885 – 26 January 1963) was a British railwayman and politician. He worked his way up from being a baker's message boy to serve as a member of parliament for fourteen years. He was marked by his loyalty to party and near silence in the House of Commons where he waited eight years after being elected before making his maiden and only speech.

Balfour was the son of a shoemaker, and was born in Aberdeen. He went only to elementary school, before beginning work as a baker's message boy. He later worked in a sawmill, in a tannery, and as a carter before joining the railways at the age of 19. In his youth he was a keen amateur boxer, and was for a time the amateur bantamweight boxing champion of the North of Scotland.

In 1913 he married Margaret Grant; they had three daughters. Balfour continued his education in evening classes including through the Workers' Educational Association and the National Council of Labour Colleges, and he also became an active member of the National Union of Railwaymen. He was Secretary of the Aberdeen branch of the NUR for twenty years, and represented railwaymen on Aberdeen Trades Council. For many years, Balfour was a member of the NUR Executive. His job was eventually to be parcels foreman at Aberdeen railway station, and he was chairman of the employees' side of the sectional council of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway for twelve years.

Through his union activities, Balfour became active in the Labour Party, being made a delegate to the Labour Party annual conference, and he served on Aberdeen Town Council from 1941 until he stood down in 1942. It was his prominence in the railway union which led to his selection as Labour candidate for West Stirlingshire at the 1945 general election. He followed Thomas Johnston, who was Secretary of State for Scotland in the war-time Coalition.

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