John Bussey was an auctioneer and local politician active in the Poplar area. He had a business 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 "chil