The Labour Representation League (LRL), organised in November 1869, was a forerunner of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Labour Party. Its original purpose was to

register Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), th ...

the

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

to vote, and get workers into

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. It had limited power, described by

Eugenio Biagini Eugenio F. Biagini is an Italian historian, specialising in democracy and liberalism in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain, Ireland and Italy, and is currently Professor in Modern British and European History at the University of Cambridge ...

as being "very weak and quite ineffective", and was never intended to become a full

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. However, it played a role in supporting the election of Lib-Lab MPs. The first secretary was

Cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

Society activist and trade unionist,

Lloyd Jones Lloyd Jones or Lloyd-Jones may refer to: People Sports * Lloyd Jones (athlete) (1884–1971), American athlete in the 1908 Summer Olympics *Lloyd Jones (figure skater) (born 1988), Welsh ice dancer *Lloyd Jones (English footballer) (born 1995), En ...

. Bauman, Zygmunt, Between Class and Elite: The Evolution British Labour Movement,

Manchester University Press Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with th ...

, 1972, p.108 In 1874, the League won two parliamentary seats. In 1886, the TUC created the

Labour Electoral Association {{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 re ...

to replace the League; in turn, this led to the creation of the Labour Party.

Secretaries

* 1869:

* 1873:

Henry Broadhurst :''See also Harry Broadhurst'' Henry Broadhurst (13 April 1840 – 11 October 1911) was a leading early British trade unionist and a Lib-Lab politician who sat in the House of Commons for various Midlands constituencies between 1880 and 190 ...

* 1880:

John Hales John Hales may refer to: *John Hales (theologian) (1584–1656), English theologian * John Hales (bishop of Exeter) from 1455 to 1456 *John Hales (bishop of Coventry and Lichfield) (died 1490) from 1459 to 1490 * John Hales (died 1540), MP for Cante ...

References

External links

"Formation of the Labour Party"
by Jim Mortimer. History of the Labour Party (UK) Political parties established in 1869 1869 establishments in the United Kingdom Political organisations based in the United Kingdom {{UK-poli-stub