Independent Labour Party

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Papers of the Independent Labour Party comprising Files 1-13 - National Administrative Council minutes 1932-1937; Files 14 - Policy of the ILP, memos by John Paton and A Fenner Brockway. Report of the Sub-Committee on policy. Undated. Files 15-17 - Bradford (?) branch minutes, including executive, group and annual general meeting, meetings committee, propaganda committee, and social committee 1922-1945. File 18 - ILP conference photograph, Bradford, c 1908. File 19 - ILP Scottish Divisional conference agenda and resolutions, annotated by a member of the conference, 1918. File 20 - ILP Membership card with rules and constitution, belonging to Arthur Duncan of London and Edinburgh Central branches, 1926-1932.

Administrative / Biographical History

The Independent Labour Party: The activities of the Manchester Independent Labour Party (established in 1892) inspired Liberal-Labour MPs to consider setting up a new national working class party. The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was consequently formed in 1893 under the leadership of James Keir Hardie (1856 - 1915). The chief objective of the ILP would be 'to secure the collective ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange'. The ILP had 35,000 members at the time of the 1895 General Election, and put forward 28 candidates, but only won 44,325 votes. The party had more success in local elections, winning over 600 seats on borough councils. The ILP joined the Social Democratic Federation in 1898 to make West Ham the first local authority to have a Labour majority. On 27th February 1900 representatives of all the socialist groups in Britain (the Independent Labour Party, the Social Democratic Federation and the Fabian Society, joined trade union leaders to form the Labour Representation Committee.