The Commonwealth Labour Party (CWLP) was a minor

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The party was founded in 1942 by

Harry Midgley Henry Cassidy Midgley, PC (NI), known as Harry Midgley (1893 – 29 April 1957) was a prominent trade-unionist and politician in Northern Ireland. Born to a working-class Protestant family in Tiger's Bay, north Belfast, he followed his father int ...

, former leader of the

Northern Ireland Labour Party The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in Northern Ireland which operated from 1924 until 1987. Origins The roots of the NILP can be traced back to the formation of the Belfast Labour Party in 1892. William Walker stoo ...

(NILP), in order to pursue his brand of labour unionism.

Split with the Northern Ireland Labour Party

Midgley had adopted a position of unswerving loyalty to Britain during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and was increasingly out-of-step with the majority in the NILP, who wished it to remain neutral on the constitutional question, and the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

minority in the party, which included his two parliamentary colleagues, Paddy Agnew and

Jack Beattie Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

. On 4 December 1942, Beattie was elected leader of the NILP group in Parliament, with Midgley as his deputy, and this was the final straw.G. S. Walker, "The Commonwealth Labour Party in Northern Ireland, 1942-7", ''Irish Historical Studies'', Vol.24, No.93, May 1984, pp.69–91 Midgley resigned from the NILP on 15 December, and was followed by the departure of the Londonderry and North Belfast branches of the party. Although his own Willowfield branch expressed its support, it did not disaffiliate. Although some of Midgley's opponents believed that he would join the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

(UUP), he instead announced the formation of the Commonwealth Labour Party, on 19 December. The new party first met in January 1943, and adopted all Midgley's positions. It attempted to make links with the British Labour Party, but was rebuffed. Later in the year, Milton Gordon led the Londonderry branch back into the NILP, having come to believe that the new party was harming the labour movement. No

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

branch ever affiliated.

Organisation

The party created a newspaper, ''Justice'', which was initially edited by Midgley's son, and maintained nine branches, three in Belfast and the others in predominantly unionist areas of Northern Ireland, and a total of somewhat fewer than 1,000 members. No longer in opposition to the UUP which dominated the legislature, Midgley accepted an offer of a ministerial post from new Prime Minister Basil Brooke. He used his position to champion the

Beveridge Report The Beveridge Report, officially entitled ''Social Insurance and Allied Services'' (Command paper, Cmd. 6404), is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It was draft ...

and the welfare state of New Zealand. The party also supported the idea of a

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

, although it avoided the question of whether British colonies should become independent states.

Electoral Performance

The party stood six candidates in the

1945 Northern Ireland general election The 1945 Northern Ireland general election was held on 14 June 1945. The election saw significant losses for the Ulster Unionist Party, though they retained their majority. Mirroring the result across the rest of the UK in the 1945 UK genera ...

. Only Midgley was successful, although

Albert McElroy Albert Horatio McElroy (14 February 1915 – 13 March 1975) was a minister of religion and politician in Northern Ireland. Born in Glasgow, McElroy studied at Trinity College Dublin, then at Manchester College in Oxford (since 1996 known as Harr ...

came a close second in

Ards Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), rapid breathing (tachypnea), and bluish skin color ...

. Midgley also stood in Belfast South in the

1945 UK general election The 1945 United Kingdom general election was a national election held on 5 July 1945, but polling in some constituencies was delayed by some days, and the counting of votes was delayed until 26 July to provide time for overseas votes to be bro ...

, but was defeated by the Ulster Unionist candidate. In September 1946, the party put up candidates in the local elections, winning seats in Bangor, Newtownards, Richhill and Ballymena, plus Midgley's seat in Belfast. Concerned by the improved performance of the NILP, the party sought to identify itself more closely with unionism, and appealed to the Orange Order to support its candidates. At the end of the year, ''Justice'' was replaced by a new journal, ''Commonwealth''.

Disbanding

Increasingly right-wing in his politics, Midgley devoted less time to the party. On 6 September 1947, he resigned as party chairman, joining the UUP two weeks later. The CWLP held a conference under the chairmanship of William Brisbane, but disbanded before the end of the year, with McElroy and some supporters rejoining the NILP, and most other members either joining the UUP or moving away from party politics.

References

{{Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland 1942 establishments in Northern Ireland 1947 disestablishments in Northern Ireland Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland Defunct social democratic parties in the United Kingdom Labour parties in Northern Ireland Political parties established in 1942 Political parties disestablished in 1947