WHITLEY, JOHN HENRY (1866-1935), Speaker of the British House of Commons, was born at Halifax on Feb. 8, 1866, and educated at Clifton college and London university. He was elected Liberal M.P. for Halifax in 1900, and represented his native city for 28 years. From 1907 to 1910 he was junior lord of the treasury, and in 1910 became deputy chairman of ways and means. From 1911 to 1921 he was chairman of ways and means and deputy speaker. In 1916 he acted as chairman of the Reconstruction Committee on Relations between Employers and Employed, and his name has become associated with the joint industrial councils established for many industries as a result of the reports of that committee. Whitley was appointed Speaker
in 1921, retiring in 1928 and declining a peerage. His urbane manner in dealing with delinquents was notably effective. In 1930 he became chairman of the British Broadcasting Corporation. WHITLEY COUNCIL : see INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS.