Abstract
In the closing days of February 1900 a conference of trade unionists and principal socialist societies, took place at the Memorial Hall in Farringdon Street. Its purpose was to discuss the formation of an independent working-class party. The occasion was hardly an auspicious one, since the attention of the nation was directed to events in South Africa. While delegates heatedly debated issues of independence and socialism, London was celebrating the relief of Ladysmith. No time for consolidation was allowed, for by October 1900 a general election had to be faced. Only two Labour Representation Committee candidates were elected, both heavily dependent on Liberal support. In other areas, where Liberal voters were less sympathetic, candidates were heavily defeated.
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Bibliographical Notes
There is a variety of good, general surveys of Labour history, the best of which are P. Poirier, The Advent of the Labour Party (1954); H. Pelling, A Short History of the Labour Party (1961); and, most recently, R. Moore, The Emergence of the Labour Party, 1880–1924 (1978). Significantly, this latest study puts much emphasis on Labour politics at local level. The outstanding book on the early years remains H. Pelling’s Origins of the Labour Party, 1880–1900 (2nd edn, Oxford, 1965). Trade-union attitudes to independent political action are well covered in H. Clegg, A. Fox, A. F. Thompson, A History of British Trade Unionism since 1889 (Oxford, 1964). R. Gregory, The Miners and British Politics, 1906–1914 (Oxford, 1968) is a model study of the attitude of a particular union. Two very substantial biographies have been produced in recent years, K. O. Morgan’s KeirHardie, Radical and Socialist (1975), which puts him firmly in the progressive tradition; and D. Marquand’s Ramsay MacDonald (1977). On the opening years of the Labour Representation Committee, particularly the MacDonald-Gladstone pact, F. Bealey and H. Pelling, Labour and Politics, 1900–1906 (1958) is recommended. R. Barker, Education and Politics, 1900–51 (Oxford, 1972) is a much wider book than the title suggests and in the first chapter there is a strong defence of the progressive rather than the socialist nature of the Labour Party. Finally, three very different and thought-provoking books are E.J. Hobsbawm, Labouring Men (1964), R. Milliband, Parliamentary Socialism (1961) and the collection by H. Pelling, Popular Politics and Society in late Victorian Britain (1969). P. Thompson has produced a good regional study, Socialists, Liberal and Labour: The Struggle for London, 1885–1914 (1967). Finally, Robert Tressell’s fascinating novel The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, written in 1906, is available in paperback (1978).
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© 1979 Walter L. Arnstein, Suzann Buckley, Peter Cain, Dennis Dean, T. R. Gourvish, Colin Nicolson, Alan O’Day, G. R. Searle
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Dean, D. (1979). The Character of the Early Labour Party, 1900–14. In: O’Day, A. (eds) The Edwardian Age: Conflict and Stability 1900–1914. Problems in Focus Series. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-15854-6_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-15854-6_6
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