Montserrat: Political Parties and Trades Union Materials

This material is held atInstitute of Commonwealth Studies Library, University of London

Scope and Content

Constitutions, histories, songsheets, manifestos and posters from 1966 onwards issued by the Montserrat Allied Workers Union, the Montserrat Civil Service Association, the Montserrat Labour Party, the Montserrat Workers' Progressive Party, the National Development Party (Montserrat), the People's Liberation Movement (Montserrat), the Progressive Democratic Party (Montserrat), and the United National Front (Montserrat). The materials here represent the country's main parliamentary parties and are primarily manifestos from elections between 1966 and 1987. The collection also contains a small number of trade union publications.

Administrative / Biographical History

Montserrat is a self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom, having previously been a member of the West Indies Federation from 1958-1962.

Arrangement

Alphabetically by group, and then in rough chronological order.

Access Information

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Acquisition Information

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Other Finding Aids

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)

Archivist's Note

Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institutes of Commonwealth and Latin American Studies.

Conditions Governing Use

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.

Custodial History

The Commonwealth Political Parties Materials collection was begun in 1960-61, with special emphasis being placed then, as now, on "primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos." (ICS, Twelfth Annual Report 1960-1961). Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.

Accruals

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

Related Material

See also Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

Geographical Names