Alfred Waterson
Alfred Edward Waterson was a Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. He was the first Co-operative Party MP.
Born in Derby, Waterson was a railwayman and activist in his trade union. He served as a town councillor.
Although the Co-operative Party put up several candidates for the first time at the 1918 [United Kingdom general election|1918 general election], only one met with success. Waterson was elected as MP for the Kettering seat. He took the Labour whip in Parliament, ahead of any decision of Co-operative Congress to progress a formal alliance with the Labour Party.
Waterson was defeated at the 1922 general election. He became a national organiser of the Co-operative Party, serving until 1945. He contested the Nottingham Central by-election|Nottingham Central by-election in 1930], and stood in Nottingham Central at the 1931 general election, coming a distant second in each case. He died in Wood Green, London aged 84.