Who was Keir Hardie?
Keir Hardie grew up in poverty in Lanarkshire and went down the coal mines as a boy. He taught himself to read, preached in his church and campaigned against drink. As a miners' union organiser in Ayrshire he led strikes, lost his job and was blacklisted, so he turned to writing for the labour press. He won West Ham South in 1892 and caused a stir by arriving at Westminster in a cloth cap. In 1893 he founded the Independent Labour Party and helped set up the Labour Representation Committee in 1900. That year he won Merthyr Tydfil, which he held until he died in 1915. He chaired the Labour MPs from 1906 to 1908.
Political views
- Was one of the people who built the Labour Representation Committee, which became the Labour Party.Source: ebsco.com
- Formed the Independent Labour Party in 1893, hoping to spread socialist ideas and draw the trade unions into politics.Source: futuremuseum.co.uk
- Spoke up for the unemployed and for workers' rights, and in 1914 asked for a Ministry of Labour and an eight-hour day.Source: api.parliament.uk
- In a 1914 Commons speech he said that tariff reform would not solve the problem of unemployment.Source: api.parliament.uk
- A firm pacifist, he stood against both the war in South Africa and the war of 1914.Source: futuremuseum.co.uk
- Backed the suffragettes and gave them advice on tactics.Source: futuremuseum.co.uk
Legacy
Labour members see Hardie as the party's founder and as the symbol of working people reaching Parliament, and a bust of him stands outside Cumnock Town Hall. In his own day, many Liberals and Conservatives thought his socialism and his stand against war were unpatriotic. Some union leaders felt his fighting approach to strikes did harm. Historians point out that he mattered more as an agitator and an inspiration than as a lawmaker. Even so, he is one of the most-quoted names in Labour history, and figures from different parties have claimed his legacy.
In their own words
“An eight-hours working day would tend to absorb a very large proportion of surplus labour, and to that extent prevent unemployment becoming acute.”