Alexander Anderson (c. 1878–1926) was a British

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

who helped found the

Socialist Party of Great Britain The Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) is a small socialist political party in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1904 as a split from the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), it advocates using the ballot box for revolutionary purposes and ...

. Like most SPGB founder members Anderson had previously been in the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James ...

, however it was another individual of the same name who held various posts in that party. He was a member of the May 1904 Provisional Committee which led to the formation of the SPGB in June. Anderson was one of the Party's top speakers in the period before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was also active as an administrator, being an Executive Committee member from 1904 to 1922 and

Party Organiser A party organizer or local party organizer is a position in some political parties in charge of the establishing a party organization in a certain locality. Herbert Ames wrote in his 1911 article "Organization of Political Parties in Canada" :"Pr ...

from 1909 to 1915. He was briefly Acting General Secretary in 1905 (August to October) and stood as a local election candidate in St. Ann's Ward,

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

in 1910. Anderson was a house painter by trade but was more usually out of work. He married another founder member, Margaret Pearson. He died on 16 September 1926 of arterial sclerosis, aged 48.

References

*R. Frank, “Reminiscences of an old member”, ''

Socialist Standard ''Socialist Standard'' is a monthly socialist magazine published without interruption since September 1904 by the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB). The magazine is written in a simple, direct style and focuses mainly on socialist advocacy a ...

'', November 1964. *Obituary in ''

'', October 1926. *

1904–1913 membership register *

1926–1931 membership register *''

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Alexander Socialist Party of Great Britain members Social Democratic Federation members 1870s births 1926 deaths House painters