David Daniel "Dan" Irving (31 October 1854 – 25 January 1924) was a British socialist activist and Labour Party Member of Parliament. Born in Birmingham, Irving moved to Bristol in 1875, where he began working on the railways. After he lost his leg in an industrial accident, the Midland Railway forced him to take a pay cut. Angered by this injustice, he joined the Bristol Socialist Society and became an activist in a gasworkers' union, which soon merged into the National Union of Gas Workers and General Labourers. In 1892, Irving worked with Herbert V. Mills in an attempt to start a utopian socialist community at Starnthwaite, but this soon disintegrated, and Irving eventually won a legal case against Mills. Instead, he became a socialist

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

, and then in 1894, secretary of the Burnley branch of 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 Con ...

(SDF). Burnley was one of the SDF's most important branches, and Irving kept its profile high. In the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting ele ...

, SDF leader H. M. Hyndman stood in the Burnley constituency, and came within 350 votes of winning the seat. In 1902, Irving was elected to Burnley Town Council, a post he held (with one gap) until 1922. In the 1906 election, Irving himself stood for

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

; he then stood in the

1908 Manchester North West by-election The Manchester North West by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 24 April 1908. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system ...

, and in the

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the ...

and December 1910 general elections he stood in Rochdale. While his votes varied considerably, as an SDF candidate he never came close to winning a seat. In 1911, Irving followed the SDF into the formation of the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw t ...

. In 1914, he was a supporter of British action in World War I, and as a result, when the SDF split on the issue, he joined Hyndman's new group, the National Socialist Party. This group affiliated to the Labour Party, and as a Labour candidate he was finally able to win a Parliamentary seat, taking Burnley in the 1918 general election. He held the seat in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

and

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

, but remained a low-profile MP and died in 1924 aged 69. In 1921 Irving gave evidence to the

Select Committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system), a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues *Select or special committee (United States Congress) *Select ...

on Members' Expenses. He said that it was not possible for him to live on the salary of £400 that MPs received. He had to keep up his house in Burnley and also pay £165 for a third-class railway pass. He rented a single room when in London. He spoke of feeling "a little sense of humiliation" when in contact with other MPs who did not have to think so carefully about what they spent.

References

* Oxford Dictionary of National Biography *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, David 1854 births 1924 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies British Socialist Party members British socialists Social Democratic Federation members British politicians with disabilities UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 Politics of Burnley