Alexander Anderson (c. 1878–1926) was a British

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

who helped found the

Socialist Party of Great Britain The Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) is a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1904 as a split from the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), it advocates using the ballot box for revolutionary purposes and oppos ...

. Like most SPGB founder members Anderson had previously been in the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James Con ...

, however it was another individual of the same name who held various posts in that party. He was a member of the May 1904 Provisional Committee which led to the formation of the SPGB in June. Anderson was one of the Party's top speakers in the period before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was also active as an administrator, being an Executive Committee member from 1904 to 1922 and

Party Organiser A party organizer or local party organizer is a position in some political parties in charge of the establishing a party organization in a certain locality. Herbert Ames wrote in his 1911 article "Organization of Political Parties in Canada" :"Pro ...

from 1909 to 1915. He was briefly Acting General Secretary in 1905 (August to October) and stood as a local election candidate in St. Ann's Ward,

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

in 1910. Anderson was a house painter by trade but was more usually out of work. He married another founder member, Margaret Pearson. He died on 16 September 1926 of

arterial sclerosis Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis in which the wall of the artery develops abnormalities, called lesions. These lesions may lead to narrowing due to the buildup of atheromatous plaque. At onset there are usually no sy ...

, aged 48.

References

*R. Frank, “Reminiscences of an old member”, '' Socialist Standard'', November 1964. *Obituary in '' Socialist Standard'', October 1926. *

1904–1913 membership register *

1926–1931 membership register *''

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Alexander Socialist Party of Great Britain members Social Democratic Federation members 1878 births 1926 deaths House painters