James C. Welsh

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James C. Welsh (2 June 1880 – 4 November 1954) was a Scottish miner, trade unionist, novelist and Labour Party politician. He worked in mines from the age of 12, and his experiences inspired his early novels The Underworld (1920) and The Morlocks (1924). He later became a full-time official for the mining union.

Welsh stood for Parliament in Lanark in 1918 but was not elected. He won a seat in 1922 as the Member of Parliament for Coatbridge, and was re-elected in 1923, 1924 and 1929. He lost the seat in 1931 to Conservative William Paterson Templeton. He returned to Parliament in 1935 as the MP for Bothwell and served until he stood down at the 1945 election.