The first Black person to hold senior elected office in London.
John Richard Archer was born in Liverpool on 18 July 1863, of Barbadian heritage, and made his name first as a prize-winning photographer before turning to politics.
Elected to Battersea Council in 1906, he rose to become Mayor of Battersea in 1913, the first Black person to hold senior elected public office in London. He used his standing to build wider movements, serving as President of the African Progress Union and helping to elect Shapurji Saklatvala as MP for Battersea North, one of the earliest MPs of Indian heritage in Britain.
His politics joined local government to international solidarity, the council chamber to the Pan-African cause. He was still serving as Deputy Leader of Battersea Council when he died in 1932, an organiser who turned office into a platform for others.
His career proved that civic power in Britain was his to hold and to wield.
His record is in Battersea council records and Pan-African Congress papers. His card is in the deck.
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Timeline
- 1906Elected to Battersea Council.
- 1913Elected Mayor of Battersea, the first Black person to hold senior elected public office in London.
- 1918Became President of the African Progress Union.
- 1920Helped organise the election of Shapurji Saklatvala as MP for Battersea North.
- 1932Died on 1 July, while serving as Deputy Leader of Battersea Council.
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I salute John Richard Archer, who turned public office into a platform for others.
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