Cape, Thomas
1868-1947

PM trade unionist born at Cockermouth on 5 October 1868. His parents were PMs and he was a Local Preacher Local Preachers. Following his father William Cape down the pit at 13 he continued there until he was 38. He was the general secretary of the Cumberland Miners Association from 1916. He represented Workington as its Labour MP from 1918 to 1945. In Parliament he supported the National Union of Ex-Servicemen, a socialist organisation founded in London early in 1919, but ceasing to be a national organisation in the autumn of 1920. At its peak in 1920 there were 100,000 members, the organisation being formed as alternative to the British Legion which was thought would not defend working class interests and would be a tool of the government. On three occasions in 1919 he unsuccessfully argued with Churchill for the organisation to be represented on the committee of the United Services Fund appointed to distribute financial support.