George Carson (1848 – 1921) was a Scottish

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

. Carson became prominent as a leader of the Scottish Tin Plate and Sheet Metal Workers' Society. In 1901, he was elected as secretary of the Parliamentary Committee of the

Scottish Trades Union Congress The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the National trade union center, national trade union centre in Scotland. With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists. The STUC is a separate organisation ...

(STUC), and in 1902 he became the leader of the associated

Scottish Workers' Representation Committee Scottish Workers' Representation Committee was the parliamentary outfit of the Scottish Trades Union Congress from 1899 until 1909. It was known as the Scottish Workers Parliamentary Elections Committee until 1903. In contrast to the Labour Repre ...

. Also that year, he was elected as secretary of

Glasgow Trades Council {{Use British English, date=January 2018 Glasgow Trades Council is an association of trade union branches in Glasgow in Scotland. The trades council was founded in 1858 as the Glasgow United Trades Council.Archives Hub,Records of Glasgow District ...

. Carson was a founder member of the

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...

in 1888. When the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

was founded in 1893, Carson unsuccessfully moved that it be named the "Socialist Labour Party", and was elected to its first

National Administrative Council The National Administrative Council (NAC) was the executive council of the Independent Labour Party (ILP), a British socialist party which was active from 1893 until 1975. Creation The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was founded at a conference in ...

. In 1910, he was elected to

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...

for the Labour Party in Maryhill.Angela Tuckett, ''The Scottish Trades Union Congress: the first 80 years, 1897-1977'', p.86

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, George 1848 births 1921 deaths Councillors in Glasgow Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members Scottish Labour councillors Trade unionists from Glasgow General Secretaries of the Scottish Trades Union Congress Scottish Labour Party (1888) politicians British political party founders