A second group to emerge was the ‘Socialist League’. They were set up by a man called William Morris, who came from a Christian background. He believed that everyone hated their jobs and that this was the reason for the increased amount of strikes and rebellions. He believed that all the proceeding events would lead to a mass revolution, after which people would reconstruct society and have a new ‘meaning to life. The Socialist league had their own newspaper called the ‘common weal’. Unfortunately it only managed to sell 2000 copies a week and failed to attract a substantial number of members for a revolution. However they did increase awareness.
The third group to emerge was the ‘Fabian Society’. They were a more peaceful group and set up by a famous play writer called G.B Shaw along with Sydney Webb, both of whom were intellectuals. They knew that any major change in society would take a long time and therefore tried to influence other parties and change their views. They managed to set up reform committee’s passing reforms such as the 1884 Reform Act which meant 3 in 5 men could now vote. This meant more working class had the vote and therefore There was a need for a political party to give them what they wanted. At present they were voting Liberal as no one else could give them what they wanted.
However there are other factors to consider that helped contribute to the development of the Labour party.
Many ‘Labour clubs’ were set up in Yorkshire. They consisted of members who were proud of their working class traditions. In the early 1880’s there had been an increase in strikes, which unfortunately had been lost. However this did not discourage them it simply motivated them to call a conference in Bradford, were both workers and Trade unionists met with Kier Hardie. He was the main speaker at the conference, and it was at the conference where it was decided to start an Independent Labour Party. The group consisted of many non- conformists such as Phillip Snowden. Despite being promising the ILP had its limitations it wasn’t a national organisation and was merely confined to Yorkshire. The ILP also faced opposition from model unions who claimed it was too socialist and when the ILP did not support the Boer War in 1899 they were tagged as an unpatriotic party making them more unpopular. This led to the Trade Union Congress passing a resolution and calling another conference to discuss how to get The working class MP’s into parliament. Despite becoming unpopular The ILP helped to contribute to the formation of the Labour party.
A conference was held in February 1900, in which 129 delegates met half of whom were trade unionists with the rest being made up of socialist societies. It was agreed to set up the LRC committee to help the working class Labour MP’s and this is seen as the beginning of the Labour party. A man called Ramsey Mcdonald became secretary and leader of the ILP. They ended up as a socialist group wanting reforms such as; 8-hour days, pensions and unemployment benefits. The LRC played a important role in the development of the Labour party. This can be seen when Kier Hardie and Richard Bell out of 15 candidates finally won in the next general election. The LRC had the most realistic plans and implemented them accordingly. They also helped the Labour party financially. They were successful due to their good ideas and peaceful methods.
Trade unions also helped contribute to the development of the Labour party. Parliament passed the ‘Payment of MP’s act giving salaries up to £400 for MP funding. In 1906 the Liberals allowed 29 Labour MP’s to pass the ‘Trade Disputes Act’ which helped restore all their rights which led to The trade union act of 1913 which meant that Trade Unions could donate to the Labour party allowing the party to develop.
The Lib-Lab pact also helped with the development of the Labour party as it contributed to the large growing numbers of MP’S getting into parliament. From only 2, to 29 in 1906 and eventually 40 in 1910.
After looking at the other factors that contributed to the development of the Labour party I can say that socialists societies was responsible for the awareness and played a very small part in perhaps the formation of the Labour party but did not have any significant role in the development of the Labour party. The main problems were that many of the socialist societies were too radical and unrealistic with their ideologies for example the SDF. Other socialist society groups such as the Fabian society had limited success in setting up some reforms but had no success in the development of the party. In my opinion it was the trade unions and the ILP who mainly contributed to the formation and the development of the the Labour party. Trade unions helped to finance the movement and help set up organisations such as the ILP and the LRC. They both made considerable contributions to the Labour Party. Far more significant than the socialist societies and therefore it is fair to say that socialist societies role had little importance in the formation and development of the Labour party. The LRC also made an important contribution by getting Labour MP’s into parliament.
Overall social societies played no real active role in the formation or development of the Labour party and it was other contributing factors that were the real driving force behind the emergence of the Labour party and its success.
