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Colne Valley Labour Union

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306:(ILP) in 1893, but followed Mann's lead in initially remaining separate. It affiliated in January 1894, naming Mann as its delegate, and successfully nominated him to become the ILP's first general secretary. For the 1894 urban district council elections, except where ILP candidates were standing, the CVLU resolved to support any candidates who supported trade unions and open council meetings. Littlewood won election in Honley, but fourteen other labour candidates were defeated. The 1895 council election was more successful, with Garside holding his seat with 61.4% of the vote, while Farr won the Yorkshire ward in Mossley, and Sanderson Hoyle was only narrowly defeated in the Cheshire ward. This gave the party hope for the 274:
election of 1892. From five possible candidates, the party selected George Garside, and he won the seat with 55.1% of the vote, defeating the Liberal Godfrey Woodhead. The party agreed to cover Garside's transport costs and loss of wages for attending council meetings. Following this, Tom Quarmby
214:
The first committee of the organisation consisted of George Garside (president), Kossuth Pogson (treasurer), George W. Haigh (secretary), W. H. Barber, Joseph Baxter, George Henry Cotton, Savile Hirst, Walter May, Ephraim Sykes, and James Sykes, with Sam Eastwood co-opted shortly afterwards. By the
409:, but soon fell into dispute with the new organisation and resigned. After a few years of independence, in 1918 it affiliated to the Labour Party, which had decided to establish constituency labour parties. The Colne Valley Socialist League thereby became the Colne Valley Divisional Labour Party. 333:, but by 1899 the party decided not to run any candidate. By then, membership had slumped to only 83 and several branches had ceased functioning, but despite this, the party maintained its positions on the county council and school board, and increased its district council representation. 385:
and Ben Turner were added to the list late on. A delegate meeting voted for Anderson and Grayson as its two preferred options, to go forward to a ballot of all members. However, Anderson decided to withdraw, and Grayson was thereby selected. The ILP sent a delegation of J. Howard and
207:. On the proposal of two local trade unionists, George Henry Cotton and George Garside, the meeting agreed to form the Colne Valley Division Labour Union. Unlike the Bradford Labour Union organisation, it would cover a single Parliamentary constituency, and it was agreed to invite 285:
Mann showed some interest in contesting the Parliamentary seat, attending meetings of the party in August and October 1891, but initially he favoured focusing on trade unionism. He again showed interest early in 1892, after he lost the election to become general secretary of the
255:, which organised social events, and also lectures. While trade unions were generally weak in the area, in Mossley, the cotton industry unions had a substantial membership, and with the support of Mossley Card and Blowing Room Operatives' Association leader 294:, but reported that it could not recommend either, and so played no part in the election. Despite this, Mann continued to regularly visit and speak in support of the CVLU, and early in 1893 he finally agreed to stand in the next election. 310:, but Mann was easily defeated, taking only 13.4% of the vote. Disappointed by the result, he withdrew from his connection with the CVLU, and contested by-elections in other seats he felt were better prospects. 397:
Grayson was accepted as part of the Labour Party group in Parliament, but the lack of ILP backing for the election campaign led the CVLL to drift away from the ILP. In 1908, it renamed itself as the
405:, again without Labour or ILP backing, causing Littlewood to resign, but Grayson was easily beaten, taking third place. The following year, the CVLL followed Grayson in defecting to the new 394:, and that ultimately decided not to support it. Grayson therefore stood as the candidate of the Colne Valley Labour League, and narrowly won the election on a strongly socialist platform. 267:, was also supportive, and ran a joint recruitment campaign. In addition, the party held public meetings, and approached prominent individuals who it believed might support it. 282:
unopposed, on a platform of providing free books and providing education free of charge, while Pogson and Edwin Hoskins failed to win election to the Slaithwaite School Board.
171:
decided to form a trade union club. Following a series of organising meetings, they secured a cellar on Nabbs Lane, naming it the Social Democratic Club, and displayed a
377:. Moorhouse was disqualified for having held membership for less than a year, Black and Glyde were deemed unsuitable, and Williams withdrew, preferring to contest 178:
By 1891, there was considerable interest in trade union candidates for elected offices, independent of existing political parties, inspired by the example of the
195:
At the Social Democratic Club, on 21 July 1891, a meeting was held, chaired by G. W. Haigh. James Bartley of the Bradford Labour Union was present, along with
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Over the first couple of years, the party worked to establish branches throughout the constituency; by the end of 1892, there were labour clubs in Slaithwaite,
390:
to decide whether to give financial backing to the candidacy; they recommended it do so, but the ILP decided to wait on a decision of the Labour Party's
496: 391: 491: 204: 486: 290:, but ultimately he did not stand, probably due to financial concerns. The CVLU sent questionnaires to both candidates in the seat in the 378: 189: 149: 136:, in Yorkshire, in England. The first labour party organised on the basis of a Parliamentary constituency, it successfully backed 168: 287: 223:. Garside was the leading figure in the party's organisation, while Gee was its main publicist, writing regularly for the 112: 314: 279: 481: 476: 402: 366: 330: 455: 354: 80: 264: 271: 220: 401:, emphasising its political principles. The party sponsored Grayson in the Parliamentary seat at the 382: 152: 53: 350: 307: 303: 291: 260: 252: 141: 406: 240: 200: 184: 370: 501: 179: 117: 8: 374: 256: 188:
published a letter signed "A Colne Valley Voter", which called for a labour candidate in
172: 107: 97: 92: 451: 346: 216: 329:, Leonard Hall and E. J. Sale. Sale was soon removed from contention, replaced by 353:. By 1907, it had 691 members, and it was determined to stand a candidate in the 215:
end of the year, some sympathetic non-trade unionists had also joined, including
387: 362: 145: 470: 358: 326: 322: 133: 345:(CVLL), and its membership again began increasing, particularly once the 318: 244: 164: 63: 276: 259:, the party held a meeting in November 1892 attended by 500 workers. 196: 85: 208: 137: 313:
In 1897, the CVLU interviewed five possible successors to Mann as
336: 248: 236: 357:. It considered seven possible candidates: Edward Black, 302:
The CVLU broadly supported the formation of the national
148:
as the local Member of Parliament. Its successor is the
297: 468: 341:The party was reorganised in 1900, becoming the 337:Colne Valley Labour League and Victor Grayson 270:The party's first electoral contest was the 211:to contest it at the next general election. 205:West Riding Power Loom Weavers' Association 132:(CVLU) was a political party based in the 497:Political parties disestablished in 1918 441: 439: 437: 435: 433: 431: 429: 427: 425: 423: 421: 203:, leading figures in the locally based 169:Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants 469: 492:Political parties established in 1891 448:Colne Valley: Radicalism to Socialism 445: 298:General election contests and the ILP 487:Labour parties in the United Kingdom 418: 163:On 16 November 1890, members of the 315:Prospective Parliamentary Candidate 190:the Colne Valley Parliamentary seat 13: 14: 513: 403:January 1910 UK general election 288:Amalgamated Society of Engineers 158: 230: 355:1907 Parliamentary by-election 263:, organising secretary of the 192:at the next general election. 18:Political party in England 1: 412: 399:Colne Valley Socialist League 392:National Executive Committee 7: 265:British Labour Amalgamation 10: 518: 343:Colne Valley Labour League 272:West Riding County Council 383:William Crawford Anderson 153:Constituency Labour Party 130:Colne Valley Labour Union 103: 91: 79: 69: 59: 54:Constituency Labour Party 48: 40: 32: 26:Colne Valley Labour Union 23: 482:Independent Labour Party 351:1906 UK general election 308:1895 UK general election 304:Independent Labour Party 292:1892 UK general election 142:Independent Labour Party 477:British Socialist Party 407:British Socialist Party 225:Yorkshire Factory Times 185:Yorkshire Factory Times 93:Political position 349:performed well in the 446:Clark, David (1981). 180:Bradford Labour Union 182:. In mid-July, the 140:as secretary of the 450:. London: Longman. 365:, T. E. Moorhouse, 257:Matthew Burrow Farr 108:Politics of England 217:France Littlewood 126: 125: 113:Political parties 49:Succeeded by 509: 462: 461: 443: 375:Russell Williams 227:in its support. 21: 20: 517: 516: 512: 511: 510: 508: 507: 506: 467: 466: 465: 458: 444: 419: 415: 367:William Pickles 339: 300: 275:was elected to 233: 161: 122: 28: 27: 19: 12: 11: 5: 515: 505: 504: 499: 494: 489: 484: 479: 464: 463: 456: 416: 414: 411: 388:Philip Snowden 363:Victor Grayson 338: 335: 299: 296: 232: 229: 167:branch of the 160: 157: 146:Victor Grayson 124: 123: 121: 120: 115: 110: 104: 101: 100: 95: 89: 88: 83: 77: 76: 71: 67: 66: 61: 57: 56: 50: 46: 45: 42: 38: 37: 34: 30: 29: 25: 24: 17: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 514: 503: 500: 498: 495: 493: 490: 488: 485: 483: 480: 478: 475: 474: 472: 459: 453: 449: 442: 440: 438: 436: 434: 432: 430: 428: 426: 424: 422: 417: 410: 408: 404: 400: 395: 393: 389: 384: 380: 376: 372: 368: 364: 360: 359:Charlie Glyde 356: 352: 348: 344: 334: 332: 328: 327:Bruce Glasier 324: 320: 316: 311: 309: 305: 295: 293: 289: 283: 281: 278: 273: 268: 266: 262: 258: 254: 250: 246: 242: 238: 228: 226: 222: 218: 212: 210: 206: 202: 198: 193: 191: 187: 186: 181: 176: 174: 170: 166: 159:Establishment 156: 154: 151: 147: 143: 139: 135: 131: 119: 116: 114: 111: 109: 106: 105: 102: 99: 96: 94: 90: 87: 84: 82: 78: 75: 72: 68: 65: 62: 58: 55: 52:Colne Valley 51: 47: 43: 39: 35: 31: 22: 16: 502:Colne Valley 447: 398: 396: 379:Huddersfield 347:Labour Party 342: 340: 323:J. R. Clynes 312: 301: 284: 280:School Board 269: 261:Leonard Hall 234: 231:Early growth 224: 213: 194: 183: 177: 162: 150:Colne Valley 134:Colne Valley 129: 127: 73: 60:Headquarters 36:21 July 1891 15: 331:Frank Smith 319:Pete Curran 245:Milnsbridge 165:Slaithwaite 64:Slaithwaite 471:Categories 457:0582502934 413:References 277:Linthwaite 201:Ben Turner 371:Ben Riley 197:Allan Gee 118:Elections 98:Left-wing 86:Labourism 70:Newspaper 41:Dissolved 253:Longwood 221:Ben Shaw 209:Tom Mann 175:inside. 173:red flag 138:Tom Mann 81:Ideology 241:Marsden 33:Founded 454:  249:Golcar 237:Honley 144:, and 74:Worker 452:ISBN 373:and 251:and 219:and 199:and 128:The 44:1918 381:. 473:: 420:^ 369:, 361:, 325:, 321:, 317:: 247:, 243:, 239:, 155:. 460:.

Index

Constituency Labour Party
Slaithwaite
Ideology
Labourism
Political position
Left-wing
Politics of England
Political parties
Elections
Colne Valley
Tom Mann
Independent Labour Party
Victor Grayson
Colne Valley
Constituency Labour Party
Slaithwaite
Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants
red flag
Bradford Labour Union
Yorkshire Factory Times
the Colne Valley Parliamentary seat
Allan Gee
Ben Turner
West Riding Power Loom Weavers' Association
Tom Mann
France Littlewood
Ben Shaw
Honley
Marsden
Milnsbridge

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