Alfred John Barnes (17 July 1887 – 26 November 1974)[1] was a British Labour and Co-operative politician.

[2] Born in North Woolwich, he was the youngest child of William Barnes, a docker.

[2] He was an early member of the Independent Labour Party and was heavily involved in the co-operative movement.

In November 1922, Barnes was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Ham South.

However, he was forced to resign in October 1930 - although his position as a director of the National Cooperative Publishing Society was unpaid, parliamentary rules dictated that a minister cannot be a director of a public company (although they could be of a private company): Barnes chose to remain on the co-op board rather than as a whip.