David Daniel "Dan" Irving (31 October 1854 – 25 January 1924) 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 ...

activist and Labour Party

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

. Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, Irving moved to Bristol in 1875, where he began working on the railways. After he lost his leg in an

industrial accident A work accident, workplace accident, occupational accident, or accident at work is a "discrete occurrence in the course of work" leading to physical or mental occupational injury. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more tha ...

, the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

forced him to take a pay cut. Angered by this injustice, he joined the

Bristol Socialist Society The Bristol Socialist Society was a political organisation in South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the ...

and became an activist in a gasworkers' union, which soon merged into the

National Union of Gas Workers and General Labourers The National Union of General Workers (NUGW) was an early general union in the United Kingdom, the most important general union of its era. History The union was founded in 1889 as the National Union of Gas Workers and General Labourers by Will ...

. In 1892, Irving worked with Herbert V. Mills in an attempt to start a

utopian socialist Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...

community at Starnthwaite, but this soon disintegrated, and Irving eventually won a legal case against Mills. Instead, he became a socialist lecturer, and then in 1894, secretary of the

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

branch of the Social Democratic Federation (SDF). Burnley was one of the SDF's most important branches, and Irving kept its profile high. In the 1906 general election, SDF leader

H. M. Hyndman Henry Mayers Hyndman (; 7 March 1842 – 20 November 1921) was an English writer, politician and socialist. Originally a conservative, he was converted to socialism by Karl Marx's '' Communist Manifesto'' and launched Britain's first left-wing ...

stood in the Burnley constituency, and came within 350 votes of winning the seat. In 1902, Irving was elected to Burnley Town Council, a post he held (with one gap) until 1922. In the 1906 election, Irving himself stood for Accrington; he then stood in the

1908 Manchester North West by-election The Manchester North West (UK Parliament constituency), Manchester North West by-election was a UK Parliamentary by-elections, Parliamentary by-election held on 24 April 1908. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), M ...

, and in the January and December 1910 general elections he stood in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. While his votes varied considerably, as an SDF candidate he never came close to winning a seat. In 1911, Irving followed the SDF into the formation of the British Socialist Party. In 1914, he was a supporter of British action in

World War I 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 as a result, when the SDF split on the issue, he joined Hyndman's new group, the National Socialist Party. This group affiliated to the Labour Party, and as a Labour candidate he was finally able to win a Parliamentary seat, taking

in the 1918 general election. He held the seat in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...

and

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

, but remained a low-profile MP and died in 1924 aged 69. In 1921 Irving gave evidence to the Select Committee on Members' Expenses. He said that it was not possible for him to live on the salary of £400 that MPs received. He had to keep up his house in Burnley and also pay £165 for a third-class railway pass. He rented a single room when in London. He spoke of feeling "a little sense of humiliation" when in contact with other MPs who did not have to think so carefully about what they spent.

References

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, David 1854 births 1924 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies British Socialist Party members British socialists Social Democratic Federation members British politicians with disabilities UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 Politics of Burnley