London likes to think of itself as endlessly modern and progressive, but in 1913, the idea of a Black man becoming a borough mayor sent monocles popping into teacups across the city. That man was John Richard Archer, a Liverpudlian photographer, radical councillor and reluctant trailblazer who became Mayor of Battersea—making him the first Black man to hold senior public office in London.
A Scouser Comes South
Archer was born in Liverpool in 1863, the son of Richard Archer, a ship’s steward from Barbados, and Mary Theresa Burns, an Irishwoman. A mixed-race working-class kid in Victorian Britain was hardly being handed the keys to the city. Still, Archer went to sea, travelled the world, married Bertha (a Black Canadian), and eventually set up shop in Battersea as a photographer.
This was no sleepy corner of London. Battersea at the time was buzzing with trade unionists, radicals and assorted troublemakers. Archer slid right in, joining the “Progressives” on Battersea Borough Council in 1906.
Councillor, Campaigner, and Target
Being elected was one thing; being accepted was another. Archer received racist hate mail, with people sneering at his heritage and even insulting his Irish mother for marrying “a man of colour.” The press whispered that he wasn’t properly British. He shrugged, and carried on.
Archer was also part of a bigger story—he attended the 1900 Pan-African Conference in London, where he rubbed shoulders with W. E. B. Du Bois and Trinidadian activist Henry Sylvester Williams. In a city still drunk on Empire, Archer was daring to imagine equality across continents.
Mayor by a Single Vote
November 1913: the council chamber was packed, the mood tense. Would Battersea elect this outspoken, mixed-race radical as mayor? The result came in at 40 votes to 39—an almost comically slim margin. And just like that, history turned.
Archer took the chain of office and gave a speech still quoted today:
“For the first time in the history of the English nation a man of colour has been elected as mayor of an English borough … That will go forth to the coloured nations of the world …”
London was on the map, like it or not.
Beyond the Chain
Being mayor didn’t mellow him. Archer drifted further left, joining the Labour Party by 1919. He founded the African Progress Union, pushing for Black self-determination and education. He also became election agent for Shapurji Saklatvala—an Indian Communist who won a Battersea seat in Parliament, thanks in part to Archer’s ground game.
This wasn’t tokenism. Archer was serious about using the levers of power, whether as a governor of Battersea Polytechnic, chairing committees, or just keeping a fierce watch over the borough.
Battersea’s Blue Plaque Hero
Archer died in 1932, still serving as deputy leader of the council. He lived at 55 Brynmaer Road, now marked with an English Heritage blue plaque. A century later, the local primary school carries his name: Ark John Archer Academy. In 2013, he even appeared on a Royal Mail stamp as part of their “Great Britons” set. Not bad for a man nearly written off as “un-British.”
London’s First—But Not Britain’s
Here’s where the historian in me gets pedantic. Archer was the first Black mayor in London, but not in the entire UK. That honour belongs to Allan Glaisyer Minns, who became mayor of Thetford, Norfolk, in 1904. But Minns has remained a footnote, while Archer’s Battersea triumph became symbolic of London’s shifting politics.
And perhaps that’s the point. Being first in London—the imperial capital, the seat of pomp—carried global weight. When Archer said his win would echo across the world, he wasn’t wrong.
Why Archer Still Matters
It’s tempting to mythologise him into a saint, but Archer wasn’t perfect. He faced defeats, setbacks, and endless hostility. What he did prove, though, was that London politics didn’t belong solely to pale, stern men in stovepipe hats. The city’s future could be shaped by someone who looked different, thought differently, and refused to apologise for it.