Scottish Workers' Representation Committee was the parliamentary outfit of the

Scottish Trades Union Congress The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the national trade union centre in Scotland. With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists. The STUC is a separate organisation from the English and Welsh ...

from 1899 until 1909. It was known as the Scottish Workers Parliamentary Elections Committee until 1903. In contrast to the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, SWRC was able to maintain organisational unity between different strands of ideological tendencies in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, ranging from

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and Fabian socialists.

History

The SWPEC's first contest was the 1900 UK general election. It sponsored radical journalist A. E. Fletcher in Glasgow Camlachie. He received 3,107 votes and did not win the seat. It then stood Robert Smillie, a leader of the miners' trade union, at the 1901 North East Lanarkshire by-election, and was also defeated. When another by-election arose in North East Lanarkshire, in 1904, another miners' leader was selected, John Robertson, who again failed to win the seat.Frank Bealey and

Henry Pelling Henry Mathison Pelling (27 August 1920 – 14 October 1997) was a British historian best known for his works on the history of the British Labour Party. Life Pelling was born in Prenton, Wirral, the son of a wealthy stockbroker. He was educa ...

, ''Labour and Politics, 1900-1906'', p.296 At the 1906 general election, The SWRC stood five candidates: John Robertson in North East Lanarkshire, Joseph Sullivan in North West Lanarkshire,

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

in Falkirk Burghs,

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire (, ) is one of 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and s ...

, and Robert Smillie in Paisley. The candidates altogether won a total of 14,877 votes, but all failed to win a single seat. Following this failure, the party decided to align itself more closely with the successor of the LRC, the Labour Party, and it took the name Labour Party (Scottish Section). In 1909, it merged fully with the Labour Party. In 1915, a Scottish Council was formed within the Labour Party.

Election results

1900 UK general election

By-election, 1900 - 1906

1906 UK general election

References

Workers' Representation Committee, Scottish Trade unions in Scotland History of the Labour Party (UK) Political parties established in 1899 Political parties disestablished in 1909 1899 establishments in Scotland Organisations associated with the Labour Party (UK) 1909 disestablishments in Scotland {{UK-party-stub