Herbert Blain

Sir Herbert Edwin Blain CBE (14 May 1870 – 16 December 1942) was a British local government administrator, safety campaigner, political agent and businessman who played a pioneering role in the development of 'white-collar' trade unionism amongst municipal workers.

Blain's organising activities establishing inclusive local government associations at Liverpool and West Ham led to his pivotal involvement in the formation in 1905 of a national body representing local government 'white collar' workers. In the period 1913 to early 1924 Blain held prominent positions in a corporate group integral to London's transport system. He was actively involved in transport and safety matters during this period. From about May 1924 to late 1926 Blain was the principal agent of the Conservative Party, appointed after the party's defeat at the December 1923 general election and given to task of modernising the party organisation. From the late 1920s Blain was a director of various companies.