Joe Cragie was a founder member of Bermondsey ILP, rising from poverty to prominence as leader of the council. He played a crucial role in the socialist successes of Ada and Alfred Salter, but until now has remained hidden from history. GRAHAM TAYLOR uncovers his story....
Bermondsey ILPer Joe Cragie’s handwritten memoir was discovered by his family, Matthew and Marion Rowley, and transcribed by Graham Taylor. We reproduce it here as a supplement to Graham’s profile of Cragie and assessment of his role in supporting Ada and Alfred Salter’s Bermondsey Revolution....
CHRIS WILSON surveys today’s exponents of an old left tradition still helping to promote the importance of ethical values in driving progressive change....
If progressive politics is not ethical, how will it ever be attractive, asks CHRIS WILSON, for whom the Christian socialist tradition provides both inspiration and hope....
Neal Lawson’s threatened explulsion from the Labour Party reveals a level of control freakery unprecedented in Labour history. The party’s long traditions of pluralism and tolerance must be upheld....
The row over the exclusion of Jamie Driscoll from the longlist of candidates for North East Mayor has rapidly become a major issue in British politics. It does the Labour party no good at all, says DAVID CONNOLLY....
Digging through family history, RAYMOND SWEETMAN uncovered the story of his great uncle – an ILP pioneer and ‘middle ranking’ socialist whose long-lost tale deserves to be told....
Sheffield-based co-operative resource centre Principle 5 has re-published an historic pamphlet celebrating the first six years of Labour control of the Yorkshire city’s local council, a period of social progress that lasted from 1926 to 1932....
DAVID CONNOLLY pays tribute to Alistair Graham, an ILPer for more than 60 years, who died on 27 February after a lifetime dedicated to the Labour and peace movements....
English Heritage marked International Women’s Day today (8 March) by erecting one their famous blue plaques to honour the life and achievements of ILPer Ada Salter who in 1922 became the first Labour woman in Britain to be elected mayor and the first woman mayor of a London borough....
Before he died, Walter Smith wrote a personal account of growing up in a left-wing household at the start of the 20th century. It is, says MATTHEW BROWN, a poignant reflection on the hopes and failures of the socialist movement....
ILPer Ada Salter is due to be honoured with one of London’s famous blue plaques, the round English Heritage markers that “link the people of the past with the buildings of the present”....