Timothy William McCristal (1881 – 24 June 1963) was an Australian soldier and left-wing activist, and one of the most prolific unsuccessful candidates for political office in Australian history. He was born in Bellingen into a large Catholic family. He fought in the Boer War as part of the 2nd New South Wales Mounted Rifles, arriving in South Africa in April 1901. He returned to New South Wales in June 1902, and in 1903 married Kathleen Carney, settling at Raleigh. Here he became involved in the labour movement, running unsuccessfully as the Labor Party candidate for Raleigh in the 1907 state election. In 1910 he moved to Sydney after the death of his wife, and began work as a wharf labourer. He ran as an independent social democrat for the seat of Pyrmont in the 1910 state election.