Richard Bell (1859 – 1 May 1930) was one of the first two

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 Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Members 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 of ...

, and the first for an English constituency, elected after the formation of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900. Bell was born in

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

and became a high-profile

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 ...

, the

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the

Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan am ...

. He was elected for

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, a two-member constituency, alongside a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

in the 1900 general election. He sympathised with the Liberals on most issues, except those that directly affected his union. This meant that he was not very compatible with the other Labour MP,

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. ...

, a committed

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 ...

member of 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 ...

. Although its chairman in 1902–03, by 1903 Bell was struggling to adhere to the rules of the LRC group in Parliament, which now had five members following a series of by-elections. By 1904 he was considered to have lapsed from the group and was associated with the Liberal Party.David Martin, "Ideology and Composition", in The First Labour Party 1906-1914, ed. K.D. Brown (London: Croom Helm Ltd, 1985), 17 He was re-elected at the 1906 general election. His supporters in the Derby Trades Council became disillusioned with Bell and replaced him at the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominat ...

with another trade unionist from the ASRS,

Jimmy Thomas Jimmy Thomas (January 20, 1939 – April 25, 2022) was an American soul singer and songwriter. He was best known as a vocalist for Ike Turner. Thomas joined Turner's Kings of Rhythm in 1958, and remained with the band when the Ike & Tina T ...

. After leaving Parliament, Bell joined the Employment Exchange branch of the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

. He retired from that in 1920 but continued in local politics and served as a member of the

Southgate Southgate or South Gate may refer to: Places Australia *Southgate, Sylvania *Southgate Arts and Leisure Precinct, an area within Southbank, Victoria Canada *Southgate, Ontario, a township in Grey County * Southgate, Middlesex County, Ontario Ed ...

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

1922–29.

Industrial interests

In 1903, Bell joined

William John Parry William John Parry (28 March 1842 – 1927) was a Welsh businessman, politician and author. Parry was a leading voice in a range of activities and causes, and was the first general secretary of the North Wales Quarrymen's Union. Born in Bethesd ...

in forming North Wales Quarries Ltd. which owned three slate quarries in

Bethesda, Gwynedd Bethesda (; ) is a town and community on the River Ogwen and the A5 road on the edge of Snowdonia, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is the fifth-largest community in Gwynedd. History The settlement's ancient name was Cilfoden, formerly know ...

. These were intended to be run co-operatively with the workers, most of whom were on strike against the owners of the nearby

Penrhyn Quarry The Penrhyn quarry is a slate quarry located near Bethesda, North Wales. At the end of the nineteenth century it was the world's largest slate quarry; the main pit is nearly long and deep, and it was worked by nearly 3,000 quarrymen. It has ...

. The three-year strike against Penrhyn was the longest industrial dispute in British history, and brought great hardship to the 2,000 quarrymen who were locked out. The operation of Pandreiniog, Moel Faban and Tanybwlch quarries failed to provide a lasting model of co-operation, but they did keep many skilled quarrymen from emigrating to the United States.

References

External links

* 1859 births 1930 deaths Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants-sponsored MPs Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal-Labour (UK) MPs Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies General Secretaries of the National Union of Railwaymen Councillors in Greater London UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 Presidents of the Trades Union Congress Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Derby {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub