The Scottish Labour Party (SLP), also known as the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Party, was formed by
Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham
Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham (24 May 1852 – 20 March 1936) was a Scottish politician, writer, journalist and adventurer. He was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP); the first ever socialist member of the Parliament of the United Ki ...
, the first
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 ...
MP in the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
, who later went on to become the first president of the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
, and
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. ...
, who later became the first leader 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 ...
and the
Labour Party.
The initial spur for the party's foundation was Hardie's unsuccessful independent Labour candidature in the
1888 Mid Lanarkshire by-election
The 1888 Mid Lanarkshire by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 27 April 1888 for the House of Commons constituency of Mid Lanarkshire in Scotland.
Previous MP
The seat had become vacant in April 1888. The constituency's Liberal ...
. He had tried and failed to gain
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 ...
support for his candidature, and the experience convinced many of his fellow miners of the need for an independent party representing the interests of labour. The cause also appealed to some
radical
Radical may refer to:
Politics and ideology Politics
*Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change
*Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
s, and his movement gained the support of the
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
Radical Association. Like many of the party's initial members, Hardie had previously been involved in the
Scottish Land Restoration League
The Scottish Land Restoration League was a Georgism, Georgist political party.
History
In the 1880s, enclosure was still in process in the Scottish Highlands, and resistance to it often received support from radicals around Britain and Ireland. ...
.
A preliminary meeting was held in Glasgow in May, and a foundation conference was held on 25 August. This was chaired by Cunninghame Graham, while other attendees included Irish nationalist politician John Ferguson, crofter John Murdoch, land reformer
Shaw Maxwell
James Shaw Maxwell (1855–1928), known as Shaw Maxwell, was a Scottish socialist activist.
Born in Glasgow, as the son of Janet Maxwell, née Shaw, and the fruiterer and merchant James Taylor Maxwell, James Shaw Maxwell served his apprentices ...
and miners' leader
Robert Smillie
Robert Smillie (17 March 1857 – 16 February 1940) was a Scottish trade unionist and Labour Party politician. He was a leader of the coal miners, and played a central role in moving support from the miners away from the Liberal Party to the La ...
. However, the organised socialist movement was not initially involved; both the
Social Democratic Federation
The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James Con ...
and the
Socialist League boycotted the event. The diverse factions had very different perspectives on the party's future, but were able to agree a programme, largely based on a draft by Hardie.
[David Howell, ''British Workers and the Independent Labour Party'', p.148]
Hardie became the party's Secretary, while George Mitchell was the first Treasurer and Cunninghame Graham was the President.
R B Cunninghame Graham, a strong supporter of
Scottish independence
Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about.
S ...
, was the party's main MP, for the
North West Lanarkshire constituency, between his defection from the
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
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in 1888 and his defeat in the
United Kingdom general election
This is a list of United Kingdom general elections (elections for the UK House of Commons) since the first in 1802. The members of the 1801–1802 Parliament had been elected to the former Parliament of Great Britain and Parliament of Ireland, ...
1892, in the
Glasgow Camlachie constituency. Two other MPs,
Gavin Clark
Gavin Clark (25 January 1969 – 16 February 2015) was an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was a member of groups including Sunhouse, Clayhill and UNKLE.
Clark was a long term friend of director Shane Meadows, they met in 1989 at a M ...
and
Charles Conybeare, held honorary offices in the party until January 1893.
F. W. S. Craig
Frederick Walter Scott Craig (10 December 1929 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compilin ...
, ''Minor Parties at British Parliamentary Elections'' Following their departure, with many of the other radicals, the party declared itself in favour of
socialism
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 ...
, and prohibited officials (but not other members) from dual membership with other political parties. The party ran two other candidates in 1892: J. Bennett Burleigh in
Glasgow Tradeston and
James MacDonald in
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
. Attempts by Cunninghame Graham and Shaw Maxwell to arrange a non-contest pact with the Liberals failed, and the SLP candidates did not poll well.
The party initially supported
Henry Hyde Champion
Henry Hyde Champion (22 January 1859 – 30 April 1928) was a socialist journalist and activist, regarded as one of the leading spirits behind the formation of the Independent Labour Party. Up to 1893, he lived and worked in Great Britain, moving ...
's
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 ...
movement, but became concerned when it formed the
Scottish United Trades Councils Labour Party
The Scottish United Trades Councils Labour Party, also known as the Scottish Trades Councils Independent Labour Party, was a Scottish labour party.
The party originated in a meeting held in Edinburgh on 8 August 1891 with representatives of var ...
under the secretaryship of
Chisholm Robertson
Robert Chisholm Robertson (1861 - March 1930) was a Scottish political activist.
Born in Limerigg, then in Stirlingshire, Robertson started working in a coal mine at the age of eight, but after the Mines Regulation Act 1872 prohibited children w ...
, presenting itself as a potential rival to the Scottish Labour Party. However, Champion's movement soon faded, while it did serve to move some trades councils to a position supporting independent labour candidates, and closer co-operation with the Scottish Labour Party.
In 1894, Hardie became President of the new
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 ...
(ILP), and the vast majority of Scottish Labour Party members supported him.
[David Howell, ''British Workers and the Independent Labour Party'', pp.154] In early 1895 the SLP dissolved itself into the ILP.
Election results
1892 UK general election
References
{{Defunct political parties in Scotland
Defunct socialist parties in the United Kingdom
Labour parties in Scotland
Defunct political parties in Scotland
Political parties established in 1888
Political parties disestablished in 1895
1888 establishments in Scotland
1895 disestablishments in Scotland