France Littlewood (5 August 1863 in

Honley __NOTOC__ Honley is a village in the Holme Valley civil parish in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated near to Holmfirth and Huddersfield, and on the banks of the River Holme. Acc ...

– 22 January 1941) 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 ...

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 ...

activist.

Biography

Born in

, then in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, Littlewood studied at Almondbury Grammar School before working in his father's dye works. He joined the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, which he represented on Honley Local Union, but left in 1891 to join the new Colne Valley Labour Union. In 1893, he was a founder member of 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 he rapidly rose to prominence, becoming national treasurer in 1896, serving until 1902.France Littlewood
/ref> He held a seat for the party on Honley

Urban District Council In England and Wales, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local government responsibilities with a county council. ...

from 1895 to 1896. His family's firm was declared bankrupt in 1899, although he and his brothers managed to retain ownership of the mill. At the

1907 Colne Valley by-election The Colne Valley (UK Parliament constituency), Colne Valley by-election was a UK Parliamentary by-elections, Parliamentary by-election held on 18 July 1907. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliamen ...

, Littlewood was a leading supporter of

Victor Grayson Albert Victor Grayson (born 5 September 1881, disappeared 28 September 1920) was an English socialist politician of the early 20th century. An Independent Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1907 to 1910, Grayson is most notable for his sens ...

, an ILP member who was refused national support because he did not support the Labour Party.David Clark, ''Victor Grayson: Labour's Lost Leader'' Grayson was successful, and Littlewood regained his seat on the Urban District Council, in addition to one on the

Board of Guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the po ...

. However, the newly renamed Colne Valley Socialist League followed Grayson in moving away from the ILP and towards

syndicalism Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through Strike action, strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goa ...

, a position which Littlewood opposed. In 1910, Grayson lost his seat, and the local group split from the ILP, joining the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of political faction, factional struggle, in 1916 the party's ...

on its formation, the following year. Littlewood sided with a minority loyal to the ILP. During 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 ...

, Littlewood served as a sergeant with the Volunteer Battalion of the

Duke of Wellington's Regiment The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division. In 1702, Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he di ...

. He remained an ILP supporter until 1928, when he resigned in support of

Philip Snowden Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, PC (; 18 July 1864 – 15 May 1937) was a British politician. A strong speaker, he became popular in trade union circles for his denunciation of capitalism as unethical and his promise of a socialist utop ...

's economic policies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littlewood, France Councillors in West Yorkshire Duke of Wellington's Regiment soldiers Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members British Army personnel of World War I People from Honley 1863 births 1941 deaths Military personnel from West Yorkshire