The Ceylon Labour Party (CLP) was a political party in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

History

The Ceylon Labour Party was formed in October 1928, with

A. E. Gunasinha Alexander Ekanayake Gunasinha (1 May 1891 – 1 August 1967) trade unionist and politician. A pioneering trade union leader, known as the "Father of the Labour Movement", he was the founder of the Ceylon Labour Party, Sri Lanka's first labour o ...

as president and Proctor Marshall Perera as secretary. Its executive committee included C. H. Z. Fernando, A. Mahadeva, C. W. W. Kannangara,

Victor Corea Charles Edward Victor Seneviratne Corea was born in Chilaw, Sri Lanka, on 29 January 1871 to Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea, a famous lawyer, and Henrietta Seneviratne. He was the youngest out of five children, three boys and two girls, Cha ...

, George E. de Silva and Satiyawageswera Iyer and women members were included for the first time in Ceylon.Traversed new paths making History
Ananda E. Goonesinha (The Island) Its foundation followed contact between Gunasinha and the British Labour Party; when Ramsay MacDonald, the British Labour Party leader and Prime Minister visited Ceylon in 1926, Gunasinha had received him on behalf of the Ceylonese labour movement. Having already set up the Ceylon Labour Union, Gunasinha modelled the new party on the British Labour Party after a visit to the UK in 1927 when he was encouraged to set up a new party by Labour Party members.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, p1013–1014 Gunasinha had also appeared on behalf of the labour movement at the

Donoughmore Commission The Donoughmore Commission (DC) was responsible for the creation of the Donoughmore Constitution in effect between 1931–47 in Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka). In 1931 there were approximately 12% Ceylonese Tamils, 12% Indian Tamils (migrant an ...

for

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...

and represented Ceylon at the British Empire Labour Conference held in London in 1928.Ceylon's battle

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establish ...

, 13 November 1929 In the 1931 State Council elections Gunasinha was elected on the Labour Party ticket as Member for Colombo Central. He was re-elected in the

1936 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1936. Asia * 1936 Ceylonese State Council election Europe * 1936 Belgian general election * 1936 Bielsko municipal election * 1936 Danish Landsting election * 1936 Finnish parliamentary election * 193 ...

. In 1940, he was elected to

Colombo Municipal Council The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, current elect is Rosy Senanayake, and 119 elected 119 mun ...

and in 1943 became the first Ceylonese

Mayor of Colombo The Mayor of Colombo is the Mayor (and head) of the Colombo Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Colombo Municipal Council was established by the Legislative Council of Ceylon. The Mayor is assisted by the Deputy Mayor and ...

. In the 1947 parliamentary elections, the CLP won a single seat, with Gunasinha elected as the first Member for Colombo Central. He was subsequently appointed as Chief Government Whip in the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

coalition government, Minister without Portfolio and Minister of State of the First Parliament of Ceylon by Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake.Parliament of Sri Lanka: Chief Government Whips
Gunasinha was re-elected in the 1952 parliamentary elections as the party's sole MP. After failing to win any seats in the

1956 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1956. Africa * 1956 Gold Coast legislative election * 1956 Italian Somaliland parliamentary election * 1956–1957 Kenyan legislative election * 1956 Nyasaland general election Asia * 1956 Burmese gene ...

, the party did not contest any further elections.

References

{{Sri Lankan political parties Defunct political parties in Sri Lanka 1928 establishments in Ceylon Political parties established in 1928 Political parties with year of disestablishment missing Labour parties