How significant was the trade union movement in the creation and development of the LRC by 1903?

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How significant was the trade union movement in the creation and development of the LRC

by 1903?

Over one hundred years ago, on 27th February 1900, a conference of trade unionists and

socialist organisations met to establish the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), the

forerunner of today's Labour Party. However in 1867, the trade union movement in Britain

was limited to a mere 5% of the working class. The unions, although initially uncoordinated

and unsupported by the law had, by 1903, acquired millions of members, legal protection

and political representation.

In order to understand the relationship between the trade union movement and the rise of the

LRC it is necessary to look at the development of the unions in the context of the social,

economic and political conditions in the late nineteenth century.

Life at this time was pretty grim for the working class. Research by Booth and Rowntree

estimated that a family of five needed a minimum of £1 a week to survive in reasonable

health. He also found that 1/3 of families had less than