Independent Labour Party Records, 1893-1960

The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British left-wing political party founded in 1893. The ILP was affiliated with the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932. This collection contains minute books, annual reports, committee reports, conference resolutions, and weekly notes for speakers from the party’s archive. These documents cover a wide range of subjects, from questions of war and peace to housing and trade unionism. They provide an excellent insight into the early years of the Labour movement in Britain.

Note: The ILP’s papers are currently held at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mr. Keir Hardie, M.P., and Mr. W. H. Drew, President of the Bradford Labour Union, were nominated for the post of Chairman of the Conference. Mr. Shaw Maxwell was also nominated, but declined to stand

The Independent Labour Party, Report of the First general Conference., Annual reports of the ILP, 1893-1899; img 2

Key Documents

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Insights

The weekly notes for speakers from 1930 discuss the developing situation in India. The findings of the Simon Commission are also explored in these notes.

The Annual Reports of the Independent Labour Party include National Administrative Council reports. The NAC Report for 1900 describes the Party's opposition to the Boer War.

The ILP Minute Books feature Emmeline Pankhurst as she attended Party meetings between July 1898 and July 1904. When her husband died in 1898, she refused donations in order to support her family herself.

Resolutions with amendments respond to World War One and Two directly. The subjects of soldiers' rights and increasing the food supply through co-operative farms were a priority during World War One.

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