Labour Electoral Association

The Labour Electoral Association was a political organisation in the United Kingdom which aimed to get working men elected to Parliament.

Foundation

The issue of political representation for workers had become increasingly important for the Trades Union Congress (TUC). At the 1885 congress, there was unanimous support for James Stafford Murchie's motion, introduced on behalf of the International Working Men's Association, that candidates who were members of trade unions should be welcomed, as should the establishment of Labour Associations in London and Birmingham, which aimed to support their election.[1]

At the 1886 TUC congress, George Shipton called for the establishment of funds to support trade union candidates, and T. R. Threlfall,[1] who had himself stood unsuccessfully for Parliament at that year's general election.[2] successfully proposed that a Labour Electoral Committee be established.[1] The initial committee consisted of John Wilson (President), William Abraham and James M. Jack (Vice-Presidents), Stuart Uttley (Chairman), Edward Harford (Treasurer), and Threlfall (Secretary).[1]

Development

The committee had some initial success, with "over a dozen" local associations established in its first year, these generally being linked to a trades council. However, it was hampered by a lack of any programme, disagreements over whether it should support candidates in local elections, and whether it could support Conservative Party or independent candidates, or only Liberal Party ones.[1] Although this was not officially resolved, its local associations did start supporting local candidates. The committee frequently debated the merits of Liberal-Labour and independent labour candidacies; its position was generally to support only candidates who were thought to have widespread local backing, and never stand propaganda candidates in the hope of building support. Where trades councils had socialist majorities, independent candidates were sometimes given support, but elsewhere, only Liberals were endorsed.[1]

In 1887, the committee renamed itself as the "Labour Electoral Association" (LEA). It also described itself as "the centre of the National Labour Party", and its candidates sometimes described their affiliation as to the National Labour Party.[3] The TUC congress agreed to support the formation of further local associations, and (through an amendment of Robert Knight) to call for the payment of MPs.[1] At the 1888 congress, Charles Fenwick, complained that the Association was working to discredit him and other existing Lib-Lab MPs, and an attempt by John Hodge to restrict its support to independent candidates failed.[1]

By 1889, Threlfall had moved from support for the independents to the Lib-Labs. The local associations had seen some success in local elections - for example, four working men had been elected in Sheffield, while, by 1890, William Matkin claimed that more than seventy trade unionists had been elected at the local level.[1] However, more trades councils were developing socialist majorities, and the local labour associations would then either leave the LEA, or split between supporters of the Lib-Lab movement and those who called for independent labour candidates. The LEA, therefore, became increasingly dominated by supporters of the Liberal Party.[1]

Decline

In 1890, James MacDonald argued that the association should only support candidates who favoured nationalisation, but this policy was rejected by the TUC congress. However, the organisation's candidates were not particularly successful at the 1892 UK general election - although eight of nine parliamentary seats were held, and Joseph Arch and Sam Woods gained seats, the majority were not elected.[1] By 1893, the socialists who favoured independent candidatures had gained strength, and Ben Tillett and John Hodge successfully proposed that the TUC would set up a new fund to support independent labour candidates. Although they claimed that this would compliment the LEA, it was generally seen as being an attempt to undermine its continued support for Lib-Lab candidates.[1]

The LEA declined rapidly in importance, held its final congress in 1895,[1] and dissolved the following year.[4] However, some of its former local associations remained in existence; for example, the Dublin Labour Electoral Association finally achieved some local electoral success in 1898.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 G. D. H. Cole, British Working Class Politics, 1832-1914, pp.101-120
  2. ↑ W. W. Bean, The parliamentary representation of the six northern counties of England, p.1078
  3. ↑ Henry Pelling, The Origins of the Labour Party: 1880-1900, p.58
  4. ↑ S. Maccoby, English Radicalism: 1886-1914, Volumes 5-1914, p.201
  5. ↑ Pádraig Yeates, Lockout: Dublin 1913, p.86
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