Ernest Edwin Hunter (1883–1947) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

political activist and journalist.

Biography

Born in Southborough in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 1883, Hunter became interested in socialism in his youth, and joined 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 ...

in 1901. He later switched to 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), and was also an organiser of '' The Clarions van movement. In 1913, he worked as a full-time

election agent An election agent is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is sent by those running the election. The term is most used in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some ...

for the Labour Party in

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

, and from 1914 to 1916, he was the political agent for the

Northumberland Miners' Association The Northumberland Miners' Association was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1864 to represent coal miners in Northumberland, following the collapse of a short-lived union covering both Northumberland and Durham min ...

. In 1918, Hunter became the secretary of the

No-Conscription Fellowship The No-Conscription Fellowship was a British pacifist organisation which was founded in London by Fenner Brockway and Clifford Allen on 27 November 1914, following a suggestion by Lilla Brockway, after the First World War had failed to reach ...

, but with the end of

World War I 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 ...

, this was wound up. From 1921, he served on the

National Administrative Council The National Administrative Council (NAC) was the executive council of the Independent Labour Party (ILP), a British socialist party which was active from 1893 until 1975. Creation The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was founded at a conference in ...

of the ILP, and chaired its London and Southern Counties division. He wrote a number of publications for the party, such as the ''ABC of Socialism'' and ''Socialism at Work'', and became the secretary of the ILP's Information Committee. He was close to

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 ...

, even after MacDonald left the party, and also to John Beckett, with whom he shared membership of the

1917 Club __NOTOC__ The 1917 Club was a club for socialism, socialists that met in 4 Gerrard Street, London, Gerrard Street, Soho, in Central London, during the early part of the 20th century. It had been founded in December 1917 by Leonard Woolf and Oliver ...

. However,

Fenner Brockway Archibald Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway (1 November 1888 – 28 April 1988) was a British socialist politician, humanist campaigner and anti-war activist. Early life and career Brockway was born to Rev. William George Brockway and Frances Eliz ...

disliked Hunter, describing him as "a master of manipulation". The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party, for which Hunter stood unsuccessfully in Hackney Central (UK Parliament constituency), Hackney Central at the 1923 United Kingdom general election, 1923 and 1924 United Kingdom general elections. He was the editor of the ILP's newspaper, the ''New Leader'', for a short period in 1929 and 1930. The following year, he opposed the split of the ILP from the Labour Party, deciding to leave the ILP. He found work with the ''Daily Herald (United Kingdom), Daily Herald'', soon becoming its political editor. He also devoted time to the National Union of Journalists, and served as its president in 1940/41.

Personal life

Ernest married Grace Helen Browning in Walthamstow in 1906. They had three children, Gilbert, Dennis and Margaret, but Grace died soon after the birth of Margaret in January 1911. The Browning family were active supporters of the early Social Democratic Federation in East London, with Grace's brother, Egbert Browning working as an agent for SDF leader, George Lansbury and sister Beatrice who was also an active member of the same movement.Equivocal Feminists. Karen Hunt Ernest Hunter later remarried to Eva Rolph in Romford in 1920 and had two more children, William and David. William and David were not mothered by Eva Rolph. Ernest had separated from her and cohabited with Eleanor Dalton, an active member of the ILP, from 1924 until his death. (Source-Grandson)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Ernest E 1883 births 1947 deaths British anti–World War I activists English journalists Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Southborough, Kent Presidents of the National Union of Journalists Social Democratic Federation members