Edward Hartley on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Edward Robertshaw Hartley (25 May 1855 – 18 January 1918) was a British
Edward Robertshaw Hartley (25 May 1855 – 18 January 1918) 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 ...
politician.
Hartley began work in a mill at the age of ten, before becoming a warehouse clerk and then a butcher
A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale ...
. He became an active socialist in 1885, in reaction to serious unemployment in his home town of Bradford
Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
. He was a founder member of the Bradford Labour Union and the Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...
(ILP).Martin Crick, ''The History of the Social Democratic Federation'' He stood for the party in Dewsbury
Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...
at the 1895 general election, taking 10.4% of the vote, but was not elected. However, he did gain election to Bradford City Council that year, representing Manningham, and held his seat for over a decade. At the 1900 general election, he was nominated in Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 25,393.
History
T ...
, but withdrew on the eve of the poll.
Hartley was intended as the ILP candidate for the 1902 Dewsbury by-election, with the support of the local trades council
A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of trade union, labour unions or local union, union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, ...
and the Labour Representation Committee, but the rival 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 ...
(SDF) nominated Harry Quelch. Initially, neither candidate would withdraw, but the trades council convinced the ILP to drop Hartley's candidacy. Quelch did not gain the support of the local labour movement, nor of the ILP leadership. Angered by what he saw as pandering to the right-wing of the labour movement, Hartley actively supported Quelch's candidacy and joined the SDF. He founded a new SDF branch in Bradford, in 1904, and was elected to the SDF's executive for seven years, using the position to advocate socialist unity. Yet he remained part of the ILP group on Bradford Council, and was re-elected on the ILP ticket in Bradford Moor in 1905.
Hartley stood for the SDF in Bradford East at the 1906 general election, where he held joint meetings with Fred Jowett, Labour Party candidate for Bradford West, and he secured the support of the local ILP. He won 22.8% of the vote, but again missed election. He next stood for the party in the 1908 Newcastle by-election, then back in Bradford East in the January 1910 general election
The January 1910 UK general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. Called amid a constitutional crisis after the Conservative-dominated House of Lords rejected the People's Budget, the Liberal government, seeking a mandate, los ...
.
From 1910 until 1912, Hartley was the secretary of '' The Clarion'' Van Movement. He then toured Australia and New Zealand for eighteen months. On his return, he stood in the 1913 Leicester by-election. Sitting MP Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...
had persuaded the Labour Party not to stand a candidate, in the hope of a Liberal victory, but this enabled Hartley to attract the support of many ILP members, ultimately taking 11.4% of the vote.David Howell, ''British workers and the Independent Labour Party, 1888-1906'', p.240 On the outbreak of World War I, Hartley became strongly pro-war and left the SDF to join the British Workers League, in the process losing most of his political support. He retired to Shelf, West Yorkshire where he died and is buried.
References