IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0097 COLL MISC 0714
Held at: British Library of Political and Economic Science
Title: Labour Party posters
Date(s): 1938
Level of description: collection
Extent: 1 folder
Name of creator(s): Labour Party
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
In the 1895 General Election the Independent Labour Party put up 28 candidates but won only 44,325 votes. James Keir Hardie (1856-1915), the leader of the party believed that to obtain success in parliamentary elections, it would be necessary to join with other left-wing groups. On 27th February 1900, representatives of all the socialist groups in Britain (the Independent Labour Party, the Social Democratic Federation and the Fabian Society, met with trade union leaders at the Memorial Hall in Farringdon Street, London. After a debate the 129 delegates decided to pass Hardie's motion to establish "a distinct Labour group in Parliament, who shall have their own whips, and agree upon their policy, which must embrace a readiness to cooperate with any party which for the time being may be engaged in promoting legislation in the direct interests of labour." To make this possible the Conference established a Labour Representation Committee (LRC). This committee included two members from the Independent Labour Party, two from the Social Democratic Federation, one member of the Fabian Society, and seven trade unionists. Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937) was chosen as the secretary of the LRC. As he was financed by his wealthy wife, Margaret MacDonald (died 1911) he did not have to be paid a salary. The LRC put up fifteen candidates in the 1900 General Election and between them they won 62,698 votes. Two of the candidates, Keir Hardie and Richard Bell (1866-1937) won seats in the House of Commons. The party did even better in the 1906 election with twenty nine successful candidates. Later that year the LRC decided to change its name to the Labour Party.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Labour Party political posters concerning the Party programme, the threat of war, Spanish civil war and paid holidays.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
One folder
Conditions governing access:
OPEN
Conditions governing reproduction:
APPLY TO ARCHIVIST
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Printed handlist available
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Output from CAIRS using template 14 and checked by hand on May 8, 2002
Date(s) of descriptions: 8 May 2002