John Bussey

John Bussey was a local politician active in the Poplar area.

He had an address at East India Dock Road, although he also occupied Spring Hall, Sawbridgeworth, in Hertfordshire.

He was elected a member of the Poplar Vestry and of the Poplar District Board of Works, serving as chairman in 1898. When the District Board was replaced by the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar in 1900 he was elected to the borough council, later becoming an alderman. He was a member of the Progressive Party which formed a coalition with the Municipal Reform Party to govern the borough. There were bitter disputes with the small Labour Party opposition group on the council. By 1914 the majority had chosen to exclude the public from council meetings and Bussey described the Labour group as "children" who "should be treated with contempt".

He made two unsuccessful attempts to win a seat on the London County Council at Hackney North in 1910 and at Poplar South in March 1919.

His political career came to an end in November 1919 when the municipal elections, which had been delayed for seven years due to the First World War, saw the Labour Party win a huge majority on Poplar council, which it was to hold for the rest of its existence.