Paddy Webb

Patrick Charles (Paddy) Webb 30 November 1884–23 May 1950) was a New Zealand trade unionist and politician.

Early life

Webb was born in Rutherglen, a small town in the Australian state of Victoria. His father, George Webb, was a miner, and Paddy Webb eventually worked in the mines himself. He quickly became active in the mining unions, becoming head of the local Amalgamated Miners' Association branch by 1904. During this time, he met Michael Joseph Savage, who would eventually become the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand.

As a result of his involvement in strike action, Webb was blacklisted, and in 1905, he moved to New Zealand to seek work. After briefly living in Dunedin, he moved to the West Coast, working in mines first on the Denniston plateau and then at Runanga. Webb became involved with the New Zealand Socialist Party, and was an advocate for socialist ideals. Working in the Runanga mine, Webb was somewhat sheltered from repercussions he would otherwise have suffered — the Runanga mine was state-owned, and the governing Liberal Party was more tolerant of his agitation than private interests were. Webb scored a considerable victory when he organised a successful strike at a mine in Blackball, and became prominent in the labour movement nationally.

Early political career

Webb was one of the more radical figures in the unions. Many of the older leaders continued to support the loose alliance between the labour movement and the Liberal Party, but Webb believed that only independent action could advance workers' interests. Webb was involved in founding the radical New Zealand Federation of Labour (the "Red Feds"), and in the 1911 election, he stood unsuccessfully for Parliament. He then played a major role in the 1913 "Unity Conference", in which the Socialist Party and the more moderate United Labour Party merged to form the Social Democratic Party. The seat of Grey became vacant in 1913, and he was nominated as the Social Democrat candidate. In the by-election he was elected on the second ballot with Liberal Party support, and in the 1914 election, he was re-elected. In 1916, the Social Democrats merged with the remnants of the United Labour Party that had resisted the previous merger, forming the modern Labour Party.

Jailed

In World War I, Webb became a prominent critic of conscription, and in April 1917, he was briefly jailed on charges of sedition. In October that year, Webb was selected for military service himself, but refused to comply. In order to seek a public mandate for his decision, he resigned from his seat in Parliament, and challenged the government to fight the by-election on the issue. The government refused, and Webb was returned to Parliament unopposed. Webb was subsequently offered a non-combat role, but again refused. He was then sentenced to two years hard labour, and was barred from political office for ten years. In 1918, his vacant seat in Parliament was won by Harry Holland, also a member of the Labour Party.

After completing his sentence (spent planting trees), Webb returned to mining. He eventually established a cooperative coal depot in Christchurch. This brought him into conflict with certain radical members of the labour movement, who believed that the cooperative structure undermined unionism, since in a cooperative corporation (where the workers are also the owners), there is no need for workers to organise against the owners.

Return to politics

In the 1932 Motueka by-election, Webb attempted to return to Parliament, but was defeated (by Keith Holyoake). The following year, the death of Harry Holland (who had won Webb's old seat in 1918, and who now represented Buller) resulted in another by-election. Although Webb's nomination was opposed by radical members of the union movement, Webb was re-elected to Parliament, for Buller.

When the Labour Party won the 1935 election, Webb was appointed to Cabinet by Michael Joseph Savage, his old friend from the mines in Australia. He was given the position of Minister of Mines, a role in which he pressed for the nationalisation of the mining industry. Gradually, assisted by the heightened demand for coal during World War II, Webb oversaw the purchase of many major operations. During this slow process, Webb had to contend not only with opponents of nationalisation but with radicals who demanded the immediate nationalisation of the entire industry.

In 1946, Webb finally retired from politics. He died in Christchurch on 23 May 1950.