Background
West was born on 27 January 1852 at Lambeth in London to brass finisher John Edward West and Elizabeth Ann, née Hearne.
West was born on 27 January 1852 at Lambeth in London to brass finisher John Edward West and Elizabeth Ann, née Hearne.
Apprenticed to a plumber, he was associated with the Ancient Order of Foresters from the age of 17.
West established himself as a plumber and by 1879 had founded the Operative Plumbers" Society. A delegate to the Trades and Labor Council the following year, he became its secretary in 1880 and president 1887-1907. As such, he was a key figure in the rise of the Labor movement and the establishment of the Australian Labor Party.
West had been a supporter of the Commonwealth Constitution at the Intercolonial Trade Union congresses after 1879, but did not stand for the first federal Parliament.
He was a vigorous supporter of the eight-hour day, despite the fact that he was an employer himself. He attempted to enter Parliament by standing against George Reid in East Sydney in 1906, but was unsuccessful.
The following year he contested the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of King, again unsuccessfully. West continued with his union commitments in parliament, and spent his political career on the back bench.
A bronze memorial in his honour at the Sydney Trades Hall was unveiled in 1932.
He criticised the government of Stanley Bruce and Earle Page for slow progress in constructing the temporary parliament house in Canberra, and also became known for his advocacy of the Australian flag appearing on all Commonwealth office buildings, his opposition of Tom Walsh and Jacob Johnson"s deportation, and his argument that the association of Labor with "Bolshevism and Communism was moonshine".