William Norton
Encyclopedia
William Norton was an Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 Labour Party
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...

 politician, and leader of the party from 1932 to 1960.

Norton was born in Dublin in 1900. He joined the postal service in 1916. By 1920 he was a prominent member in the trade union movement in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. From 1924 to 1948 he served as secretary of the Post Office Workers' Union. He was elected as a Teachta Dála
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...

 (TD) for Dublin County
Dublin County (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Dublin County was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1921 to 1969...

 at a by-election in 1926, but was defeated at the June 1927 general election. In Professor Tom Garvin's review of the 1950s 'News from a New Republic', he comes in for praise as a moderniser. Garvin places him with a cross party group including Gerard Sweetman
Gerard Sweetman
Gerard Sweetman was an Irish Fine Gael politician and solicitor.-Family and childhood:Hugh Gerard Sweetman was born on 10 June 1908 to a comfortably well-off Dublin family...

 and Daniel Morrissey
Daniel Morrissey
Daniel Morrissey was an Irish politician who served in Dáil Éireann for thirty-five years.He was a native of Nenagh, County Tipperary. He was first elected to the 3rd Dáil at the 1922 general election as a Labour Party Teachta Dála for Tipperary Mid, North and South...

 of Fine Gael as well as Sean Lemass of Fianna Fáil who were pushing a modernising agenda. He represented Kildare
Kildare (Dáil Éireann constituency)
Kildare was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1923 to 1937 and from 1948 to 1997...

 from 1932 until his death.

In 1932 he became leader of the Labour Party. In the First Inter-Party Government
Government of the 13th Dáil
The 13th Dáil was elected at the 1948 general election on 4 February 1948 and first met on 18 February when the 5th Government of Ireland was appointed. The 13th Dáil lasted for 1,211 days....

 (1948–1951), Norton became Tánaiste
Tánaiste
The Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...

 and Minister for Social Welfare. In the Second Inter-Party Government
Government of the 15th Dáil
The 15th Dáil was elected at the 1954 general election on 18 May 1954 and first met on 2 June when the 7th Government of Ireland was appointed. The 15th Dáil lasted for 1,022 days.-7th Government of Ireland:...

 (1954–1957), Norton served as Tánaiste and Minister for Industry and Commerce.

William Norton died in Dublin in 1963. His son Patrick Norton
Patrick Norton (Irish politician)
Patrick Norton is a former Irish Labour Party politician. He first stood for election at the Kildare by-election on 19 February 1964 but he was not elected. The by-election was caused by the death of his father William Norton, former Tánaiste and Labour Party leader from 1932 to 1960...

served as a TD for Kildare from 1965 to 1969.
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