Born in
Cambuslang to Irish immigrants Bernard and Mary (née Carroll), Sullivan was educated in
Bellshill and
Newton, before becoming a
coal miner. He became active in the
Lanarkshire Miners' County Union, serving as its president, and as a full-time agent for the union. At the
1906 United Kingdom general election, Sullivan stood for the
Scottish Workers' Representation Committee in
North West Lanarkshire, but was not elected. In 1909, the committee became part of the Labour Party, for which Sullivan stood in
North East Lanarkshire at the
January 1910 United Kingdom general election, but he was again unsuccessful. At the
1918 general election, he unsuccessfully contested the
North Lanarkshire constituency, but won the seat at the
1922 general election. He was re-elected in
1923, but was defeated at the
1924 general election by the
Conservative Party candidate Sir
Alexander Sprot. In 1926 he was returned to the
House of Commons as MP for
Bothwell, at a
by-election following the death of the Labour MP
John Robertson. He was re-elected in
1929, but lost the seat at the
1931 general election when the Labour vote collapsed as the party split over its leader
Ramsay MacDonald's formation of a
National Government. He died at his home in
Mossend, North Lanarkshire on 13 February 1935 aged 68. ==References==