The importance of religious beliefs to Keir Hardie’s political convictions is well known. But most Labour historians have underplayed the influence of radical Christianity on his world view, says NEIL JOHNSON....
Crusaders for Peace: The Hidden History of Southwark’s COs
The ILP was a major driver of opposition to the First World War in many parts of the country. The south London borough of Southwark was no different, as new research by JOHN TAYLOR has revealed....
Teas, Talks & Trees: Southwark Gets Set to Celebrate the Salters’ Centenary
The lives and achievements of ILPers and ethical socialist pioneers Ada and Alfred Salter are to be celebrated with a year-long series of events in south-east London where the Salters led their ‘Bermondsey Revolution’ in the early decades of the 20th century....
History Comes Alive as the ILP Socialist Institute Re-opens in Nelson
Nelson’s restored Unity Hall finally opened its doors to the public on Saturday 9 October with the official launch of the Selina Cooper Project. JEANNINE SUDWORTH and NEIL RHODES were there to admire the impressive work of the hard-working team who made it happen....
ILP Profiles: Andrew Amos – Socialism’s Centre Half
GRAHAM TAYLOR recounts the tale of a long-forgotten Bermondsey ILPer who once scored a crucial goal for England before joining the church in south east London where he was a keen supporter of Ada and Alfred Salter....
Marching Altogether: Lessons of the Jarrow Crusade
MATT PERRY marks the 85th anniversary of the Jarrow Crusade with a call for the revival of the grassroots campaigning politics that roused the marchers on their month-long trek and helped Labour recover from electoral disaster in the 1930s....
Carpenter’s Long-lost Co-op Pamphlet Re-published
A long forgotten pamphlet by Edward Carpenter extolling the virtues and advantages of co-operatives has been re-published by the Yorkshire Co-operative Resource Centre, Principle 5....
Nelson’s Selina Cooper Project Finally Opens to the Public
The Selina Cooper project and exhibition at Nelson’s Unity Hall will finally open to the public this Saturday with a launch event to celebrate the history of the building, and the community of ILPers and socialists who built and ran it more than 100 years ago....
Eric Preston: The ILP’s Optimistic Pessimist
DAVID CONNOLLY celebrates the political thinking of Eric Preston, the ILP activist and theoretician who died a year ago....
The (Unbelievable) Intrigues of Jennie Lee
KATH CONNOLLY finds the latest book on the mould-breaking ILPer and Labour MP an unlikely and infuriating mix of fact and fiction....
ILP Profiles: Allen Clarke – A Radical Writer Remembered
Allen Clarke was a well-known figure in the north of England socialist movement between the early 1890s and 1930s, yet today he is virtually forgotten. PAUL SALVESON recalls the extraordinary achievements of a working class writer and romantic radical who deserves a larger legacy....
French Lessons for the British Left
The Parti Socialist Unifie ceased to exist more than 30 years ago. But, as one-time member GARY KENT suggests, its grit, principle and foresight has much to teach the modern left on both sides of the Channel....