| Biography | John George Hancock (15 October 1857 19 July 1940) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1909 to 1923.
He was elected as (MP) for Mid Derbyshire at a by-election in July 1909, as a Liberal candidate. He was one of a group of Trade Union sponsored Liberal MPs who were instructed by their Union to join the Labour party that year. He held his seat under his new Labour party label in both 1910 elections without Liberal opposition. Relations between the Labour and Liberal parties deteriorated after 1910 and they were expected to field candidates against each other at the next election, anticipated to be in 1915. Hancock decided that he would rather defend his seat as a Liberal, so crossed the floor in 1915 to re-join the Liberals. He held the seat until the constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election. He was then returned unopposed for the new Belper constituency, and held the seat at the 1922 election against a Labour Party opponent. However, he was defeated at the 1923 general election by the Conservative Party candidate, Herbert Wragg. Aged 65, he did not stand for Parliament again. |