Hardie never attended school and was therefore completely illiterate until the age of twelve, when as he worked as a coal miner twelve hours a day, still found time to educate himself in reading and writing and by the age of seventeen he had learnt how to write fluently. This brought him to begin reading newspapers and therefore expand his knowledge of what was going on around him, he realised the importance of trade unions and founded one at his own colliery. He was dismissed in 1880 after organising the first Lanarkshire miners strike.
In 1881 he moved to Old Cumnock and started his journalistic career which soon developed into his position as editor of a newspaper called The Miner established by himself after he became secretary of the Scottish Miners association in 1886. He hoped to use the newspapers to give the miners an insight into politics.
The dominant influence on Hardie’s political ideology was his religious beliefs. It was these beliefs that motivated his socialist beliefs that everyone is equal. In 1888 after advocating socialism he stood as an independent Labour candidate for the constituency of Mid-Lanark. His first attempt to enter the House of Commons ended in failure as he finished bottom of the poll.
In the 1892 General Election Hardie once again stood as an independent Labour candidate, but this time for the constituency of West Ham South in London’s east end; he won the election and became the country’s first socialist MP. The fashion/ tradition of members of parliament in this era consisted of top hats and long black coats. Hardie chose to differ by wearing his trademark cloth cap and tweed suit. This gave him one very important attribute that is essential to be a successful politician – charisma.
One of the first debates that Hardie was actively involved in was his claim that people earning more than £1,000 a year should pay a higher rate of income-tax and the extra revenue should be spent on pensions and free education for working class children.
In the early 1990’s as socialist groups such as the Social Democratic Party and the Fabian Society became more prominent, Hardie became one of the main influences in the establishment of the Independent Labour Party, at the opening conference he was elected chairman and leader of this party. Without the Independent Labour Party, the Labour movement would have no vitality or focus. However, this new found vitality ebbed after his defeat in the 1895 election and Hardie’s prophetic comment “we must learn how to fight elections” resonated in the minds of leading trade unionists and socialists alike.
Between 1895 and 1900 Hardie worked hard to improve and increase the popularity and policies of the ILP. He focused his mind on uniting the trade unions with the Independent Labour Party so that a clear and resonant message was sent to those working men with the franchise. He made good use of his position as editor of the Labour Leader (previously known as The Miner) by giving advise on how to conduct meetings and how to organise groups such as Socialist Church groups and Sunday School classes.
A key event that defines the respect and importance that Hardie commanded was in 1896 when Emmeline Pankhurst, a member of the ILP began organising open-air meetings on Sundays in a local Manchester park. One Sunday, she invited Keir Hardie to speak, this resulted in more than fifty thousand supporters turning up to hear him articulate his beliefs. However the local authorities had other plans and declared that these meetings were illegal, Keir Hardie was arrested soon after he started speaking. The home secretary was worried about the publicity that Hardie was getting, he intervened and had Hardie released. This would prevent further trouble.
In 1900 the Labour Representation Committee was established. This was a result of Hardie’s beliefs that the ILP should join forces with trade unions and various socialist movements to form one big, strong, politically motivated group. In the 1900 general election Hardie was elected as MP for Merthr Tydfil, an industrial town in South Wales, he represented the views of the LRC in parliament. However, there were only two LRC delegates in the House of Commons, proving to be a very weak influence inside it. This led another LRC activist James Ramsay MacDonald using his skilful political strategies to make a pact with the leader of the Liberal Party, Herbert Gladstone. The Liberal Party agreed not to stand candidates in c.50 marginal seats if Labour did not enter candidates against Liberal candidates in other constituencies. The result was the election of twenty nine Labour candidates in the 1906 general election. The pact was known as the ‘lib-lab’ pact of 1903.
After this final straw involving the election of twenty nine LRC candidates, it was agreed that the LRC would be renamed the Parliamentary Labour Party. Keir Hardie was elected chairman for the years 1906-7 and again in 1910-11.
Hardie, although one of the key figures in the political development of the Labour Party, was not the only reason for its success. Ramsay MacDonald was more skilful in the House of Commons and it was he who was responsible for the ‘lib-lab’ pact of 1903. The increasing influence of the trade unions was essential as most of the members of the LRC were trade union members and it is because of their trade union membership that they joined the LRC. The various socialist groups, such as the Social Democratic Party and the Fabian Society ever increased the membership tolls of first the ILP and then the LRC. The impact of the Taff Vale strike of 1901 can be seen as a success in the way that it made the leaders of the LRC use more politically just strategies to gain prominence rather than encouraging unions to go on strike. However James Keir Hardie established himself as a figure of almost legendary status, the folk-hero of Labour Mythology. His individuality, commitment and charisma was like no other politician ever to set foot in the House of Commons. From the beginning of his socialist beliefs when he was sacked by his employer for turning up for work late after looking after his dying brother, to his death in 1915 when he still campaigned actively against the first world war.
