The ''Labour Leader'' was a British

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again.

19th century

The origins of the paper lay in ''The Miner'', a monthly paper founded by

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 (UK), Labour Party, and was its first Leader of the Labour Party (UK), parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. ...

in 1887. Its main purpose was to advocate for a federation of Scottish

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

s."Hardie, (James) Keir", ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

''. The first issue contained an influential programme for labour, co-authored by Hardie and Chisholm Robertson,Howell, David, ''British Workers and the Independent Labour Party, 1888-1906'', p. 146. marking Hardie's switch from support for 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. For example, while the political systems ...

to advocating independent labour candidacies. The paper was used as Hardie's platform in the 1888 Mid Lanarkshire by-election, following which Hardie became a founder member of the

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is repres ...

and relaunched ''The Miner'' as the ''Labour Leader''. In 1893, the Scottish Labour Party affiliated to 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 Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

(ILP). Hardie became the party's first leader and began using the ''Labour Leader'' as a forum for the development of policy for the new party. In 1894 he was able to increase the paper's frequency from monthly to weekly.

20th century

Hardie continued to publish and edit the ''Labour Leader'' until 1904, when he sold it to the ILP, amid some controversy on the appropriate recompense due to him. The ILP appointed John Bruce Glasier to replace Hardie as editor in January 1905. Glasier was able to take sales from 13,000 at the start of his editorship to 43,000 in 1908, but attracted criticism from some ILP members for consistently endorsing all the actions of the party's leadership. He stood down from the post in April 1909. In 1909, party members were encouraged to write for the ''Labour Leader'' rather than rival publications. For example, Frederick William Jowett's parliamentary column was transferred from '' The Clarion''. Throughout this period the paper was known for

investigative reporting Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

and high-quality journalism. As early as 1899 an investigation by Hardie had sensationally exposed poor conditions at the Overtoun Chemical Works, while in 1913 and 14, Walton Newbold worked on a lengthy article exposing the interests of the defence industry.

First World War

In 1912, the editorship passed to

Fenner Brockway Archibald Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway (1 November 1888 – 28 April 1988) was a British socialist politician, humanist campaigner and anti-war activist. Early life and career Brockway was born to Rev. William George Brockway and Frances Eliz ...

, who imposed a policy of strident

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...

, opposing the First World War with front-page

headline The headline is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents. The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th century when incre ...

s such as "The War Must Be Stopped" and "Down With The War"."Fenner Brockway"
Learn Peace ( Peace Pledge Union). . In 1915, the paper's offices were raided by the police and Brockway was charged with publishing seditious material. Brockway won the case, but commented that "if we weren't dangerous to the government we were failing in our duty!" However, his work in the No-Conscription Fellowship led to his repeated imprisonment and by 1916 he felt unable to continue as editor.Brockway, (Archibald) Fenner, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Katherine Glasier took over the editorship."Glasier, Katharine St John Bruce", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. In 1917 the government prohibited the export of the ''Labour Leader'' from the UK. By 1918 Glasier had increased circulation to 62,000, but she became increasingly at odds with the prominent columnist

Philip Snowden Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, PC (; 18 July 1864 – 15 May 1937) was a British politician. A strong speaker, he became popular in trade union circles for his denunciation of capitalism as unethical and his promise of a socialist utop ...

. His opposition to the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

was vocally resisted by Glasier, and in the ensuing dispute sales fell away. The stress of the dispute may have contributed to her

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

Inter-war years

After Glasier resigned from the paper

Clifford Allen Clifford Robertson Allen (January 6, 1912 – June 18, 1978) was an American attorney and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician who was a member of the Tennessee Senate from 1949 to 1951, and again from 1955 to 1959. He was el ...

, then the Treasurer of the ILP, decided that a new approach was necessary. The paper was renamed the ''New Leader'' and H. N. Brailsford was appointed editor. Alarmed at Brailsford's

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

reputation,

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

ensured that Mary Hamilton was appointed as his more moderate deputy, although she soon left the post. Brailsford championed articles on

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

topics alongside an increased proportion of theoretical pieces, and contributed numerous articles proposing a programme for a living wage. Brailsford also managed to obtain several noted contributors to the ''New Leader'', including

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

Hugh Dalton Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton, Baron Dalton, (16 August 1887 – 13 February 1962) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party economist and politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1945 to 1947. He shaped Labour Party foreig ...

, Norman Angell and C. E. M. Joad.Leighton, Clare, and Patricia Jaffé, ''The Wood Engravings of Clare Leighton''. Cambridge, England : Silent Books, 1992. (p. 9).Leventhal, F. M., "H. N. Brailsford and the New Leader". ''Journal of Contemporary History''. Vol. 9, No. 1 (January 1974), (pp. 91–113). E. M. Forster and H. W. Nevinson contributed book reviews to the ''New Leader'', while

Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist and Internationalism (politics), internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentiet ...

wrote science articles. The magazine also added a literature section, with poems by

Frances Cornford Frances Crofts Cornford (née Darwin; 30 March 1886 – 19 August 1960) was an English poet. Biography She was the daughter of the botanist Francis Darwin and Newnham College, Cambridge, Newnham College fellow Ellen Wordsworth Darwin, Ellen ...

and Charlotte Mew, and stories by T. F. Powys. Illustrators for the ''New Leader'' included Jack B. Yeats, Muirhead Bone,

Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz ( born Schmidt; 8 July 186722 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' and ''The Peasa ...

and Clare Leighton. By 1926 circulation had fallen and Brailsford had fallen out of favour with the ILP leadership. Brockway returned to the helm, supporting James Maxton's call for the ILP to stand for "socialism in our time". In 1929 Brockway was elected as the Member of Parliament for Leyton East and stood down from the paper. He was replaced by John Paton. Paton was also an advocate of the living wage policy, but gave only reluctant support to the idea that the ILP should split from the Labour Party. Out of Parliament again in 1931, Brockway returned to the editor's chair, remaining in the post until 1946, when he resigned from the ILP and rejoined the Labour Party. On 11 March 1938, the magazine published an editorial (titled ''Stalin-Stop!'') calling on

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

to end the Moscow Trials.

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's essay "Why I Joined the Independent Labour Party" was published in ''New Leader'' on 28 June 1938.

After the Second World War

Facing a severe decline as many of its activists defected to Labour, the ILP relaunched the paper as the ''Socialist Leader'' in 1946, with Douglas Rogers as editor. F. A. Ridley and George Stone were appointed joint editors in 1947, Ridley standing down the following year, but continuing to write regularly for it. Stone pursued a " third force" policy, opposing both

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The ILP continued to decline, but remained able to publish a weekly newspaper. A

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician, Cyril Wilson Black, successfully prosecuted the paper for

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

after it described him as a

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

. In 1975, the ILP decided to dissolve itself into the Labour Party, renaming its paper as the ''Labour Leader'' once again and moving back to monthly publication. Relaunched with a claim to be "Labour's Independent Monthly", it was published by Independent Labour Publications until 1986."Labour Leader"
Arbejdermuseet & Arbejderbevægelsens Bibliotek og Arkiv. .

Editors

:1888:

:1905: John Bruce Glasier :1909: J. T. Mills :1912:

:1916: Katherine Glasier :1922: H. N. Brailsford :1926:

:1929: Ernest E. Hunter :1930: John Paton :1931:

:1946: Douglas Rogers :1947: Frank Ridley and George Stone :1948: George Stone :1960: Wilfred Wigham :1963: Jack Ellis :1964: Douglas Kepper :1966: John Downing :1970: Robin Jenkins :1970s: Alistair Graham

References

{{Authority control 1888 establishments in the United Kingdom 1986 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom Independent Labour Party Labour Party (UK) publications Newspapers established in 1888 Publications disestablished in 1986 Socialist newspapers published in the United Kingdom