{{Short description, Political motive of the Labour Electoral Association The Labour Electoral Association was a political organisation in the United Kingdom which aimed to get working men elected to Parliament.

Foundation

The issue of political representation for workers had become increasingly important for the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

(TUC). At the 1885 congress, there was unanimous support for James Stafford Murchie's motion, introduced on behalf of the

International Working Men's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and tr ...

, that candidates who were members of trade unions should be welcomed, as should the establishment of Labour Associations in London and Birmingham, which aimed to support their election.

G. D. H. Cole George Douglas Howard Cole (25 September 1889 – 14 January 1959) was an English political theorist, economist, and historian. As a believer in common ownership of the means of production, he theorised guild socialism (production organised ...

, ''British Working Class Politics, 1832–1914'', pp.101–120 At the 1886 TUC congress,

George Shipton George Shipton (1839 – 14 October 1911) was a prominent British trade unionist. Trade union activity Shipton worked as a builder and became involved in trade unionism by joining the Land and Labour League, where he became a strong supporter of ...

called for the establishment of funds to support trade union candidates, and T. R. Threlfall, who had himself stood unsuccessfully for Parliament at that year's general election.W. W. Bean, ''The parliamentary representation of the six northern counties of England'', p.1078 successfully proposed that a Labour Electoral Committee be established. The initial committee consisted of John Wilson (President),

William Abraham William Abraham is the name of: * William Abraham (Irish politician) (1840–1915), Irish Parliamentary Party Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons * William Abraham (trade unionist) (1842–1922), Welsh Liberal-Labour Member of Parl ...

and James M. Jack (Vice-Presidents), Stuart Uttley (Chairman), Edward Harford (Treasurer), and Threlfall (Secretary).

Development

The committee had some initial success, with "over a dozen" local associations established in its first year, these generally being linked to a

trades council A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of labour unions or union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, region, or provincial or ...

. However, it was hampered by a lack of any programme, disagreements over whether it should support candidates in local elections, and whether it could support

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidates, or only

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

ones. Although this was not officially resolved, its local associations did start supporting local candidates. The committee frequently debated the merits of Liberal-Labour and independent labour candidacies; its position was generally to support only candidates who were thought to have widespread local backing, and never stand propaganda candidates in the hope of building support. Where trades councils had socialist majorities, independent candidates were sometimes given support, but elsewhere, only Liberals were endorsed. In 1887, the committee renamed itself as the "Labour Electoral Association" (LEA). It also described itself as "the centre of the National Labour Party", and its candidates sometimes described their affiliation as to the National Labour Party. The TUC congress agreed to support the formation of further local associations, and (through an amendment of Robert Knight) to call for the payment of MPs. At the 1888 congress,

Charles Fenwick Charles Fenwick (5 May 1850 – 20 April 1918) was a British trade unionist and Liberal–Labour politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1918. Fenwick was born in Cramlington, Northumberland, and became a coal miner at the a ...

, complained that the Association was working to discredit him and other existing Lib-Lab MPs, and an attempt by

John Hodge John Hodge may refer to: *John R. Hodge (1893–1963), United States Army officer *John E. Hodge (1914–1996), American chemist *John Hodge (politician) (1855–1937), British politician *John Hodge (engineer) (1929–2021), British-born aerospace ...

to restrict its support to independent candidates failed. The

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

created county and

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

councils throughout

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

, to take over many local functions until then carried out by the unelected

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

, and the first elections to them took place in January 1889. By this point, Threlfall had moved from support for the independents to the Lib-Labs. The local associations saw some success in the local elections – for example, four working men were elected to

Sheffield City Council Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Contr ...

, while, by 1890,

William Matkin William Matkin (1845–1920) was a British trade unionist. Born in Caythorpe in Lincolnshire, However, more trades councils were developing socialist majorities, and the local labour associations would then either leave the LEA, or split between supporters of the Lib-Lab movement and those who called for independent labour candidates. The LEA, therefore, became increasingly dominated by supporters of the Liberal Party.

Decline

In 1890, James MacDonald argued that the association should only support candidates who favoured

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

, but this policy was rejected by the TUC congress. However, the organisation's candidates were not particularly successful at the 1892 general election – although eight of nine parliamentary seats were held, and

Joseph Arch Joseph Arch (10 November 1826 – 12 February 1919) was an English trade unionist and politician, born in Barford, Warwickshire, who played a key role in unionising agricultural workers and in championing their welfare. Following their enfranc ...

and Sam Woods gained seats, the majority were not elected. By 1892, the socialists who favoured independent candidatures had gained strength, and

Ben Tillett Benjamin Tillett (11 September 1860 – 27 January 1943) was a British socialist, trade union leader and politician. He was a leader of the "new unionism" of 1889 that focused on organizing unskilled workers. He played a major role in founding ...

and John Hodge successfully proposed that the TUC would set up a new fund to support independent labour candidates. Although they claimed that this would complement the LEA, it was generally seen as being an attempt to undermine its continued support for Lib-Lab candidates. At a TUC meeting in September 1892, an arrangements committee was formed with a view to creating an independent labour organisation. A conference chaired by William Henry Drew took place in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

from 14 to 16 January 1893 at the Bradford Labour Institute, the premises of the

Labour Church The Labour Church was an organization intended to give expression to the religion of the labour movement. It had a Christian socialist outlook, specifically called theological socialism. History The first Labour Church was founded at Manchester in ...

. 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 established, with

Keir Hardie James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party, and served as its first parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. Hardie was born in Newhouse, Lanarkshire. ...

as its first chairman. The LEA declined rapidly in importance, held its final congress in 1895, and dissolved the following year. However, some of its former local associations remained in existence; for example, the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Labour Electoral Association finally achieved some local electoral success in 1898.Pádraig Yeates, ''Lockout: Dublin 1913'', p.86

References

Political parties established in 1886 Political parties disestablished in 1896 Liberal Party (UK) Trades Union Congress 1886 establishments in the United Kingdom 1896 disestablishments in the United Kingdom

Foundation

Development

Decline

See also

References