Spencer, George Alfred (1873-1957)

British miners' leader and Labour politician. He became president of the Nottinghamshire Miners Association in 1912 and was Labour member of Parliament for Broxtowe 1918-29. He was opposed to the militant line taken by A J Cook, as secretary of the Miners Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), from 1925, and when the mining crisis precipitated the 1926 General Strike, Spencer formed a breakaway union that was supported by coalowners and opposed by the federation.

Spencer's union survived until 1937, when it merged with the old association to become the Nottinghamshire Miners Federated Union. Spencer was its president until 1945.

Spencer was born in Nottinghamshire and entered the mines aged twelve. Although left-wing in the immediate aftermath of the war, Spencer believed the Nottinghamshire association might best negotiate its own terms without the Federation. For this, Spencer was described by Herbert Smith in October 1926 as ‘a coward’.

Spencer did not wish unions to have political ties and in this he was supported by a minority of others such as the seamen's union leader, Havelock Wilson. Spencer also served on the executive of the MFGB in 1942 and opposed the nationalization of the mines in 1946.