Pre-war

Whitley became Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Halifax in 1900, a seat he held until he resigned in 1928. He served as Junior Lord of the Treasury from 1907 to 1910 in the Liberal Government 1905-1915. He was appointed Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means 1910–1911, Privy Counsellor in 1911 and he held the role of Chairman of Ways and Means, Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, from 1911 to 1921.

Whitley Councils

During World War I, in 1917, Whitley was appointed to chair a committee to report on 'the Relations of Employers and Employees' in the wake of the establishment of the Shop Stewards Movement and the widespread protest action against dilution. The smooth running of industry was vital to the war effort so maintaining good industrial relations was a priority.^[18]

He proposed a system of regular formal consultative meetings between workers and employers, known to this day as "Whitley Councils". These would be empowered to cover any issue related to pay and conditions of service, and to take matters through to arbitration if necessary. This was a strong model which was to influence industrial relations beyond the UK.

The intention was to establish Whitley councils in the private sector, in particular in those industries most affected by the strike wave – to offset the demand for 'workers' control' – a demand which was rapidly gaining ground after the Russian revolution.

However, the councils failed to gain ground in coal, cotton, engineering and other heavy industries, but succeeded only in the sphere of government employment where they remain a major feature of public sector industrial relations to this day.

Speaker

Whitley was appointed Speaker of the House of Commons in 1921, a post he held until 1928, when he resigned^[19] on grounds of ill health. He refused the customary peerage offered by the monarch – breaking a tradition that had originated in 1789.^[7]

Some notable portraits of Whitley were commissioned during this period, with paintings by both William Rothenstein^[20] and Glyn Warren Philpot.^[21]

Post-Parliament

Despite resigning as MP and Speaker, his political work continued. He chaired the Royal Commission on Labour in India, which reported in 1931. The report surprised many by concurring with the criticisms of Mahatma Gandhi and others that poverty was the cause of India's social and industrial problems. It was also critical of British employers' role in perpetuating the problems.^[22]

Whitley was offered a knighthood for his work on this report, but again, he, like a minority of others, declined.

The John Henry Whitley archive

The personal archive of John Henry Whitley was donated to the Archives and Special Collections of the University of Huddersfield in 2012.^[25][26]