Portal:Socialism/Selected biography/2
James Keir Hardie, Sr. (15 August 1856 – 26 September 1915), was a Scottish socialist and labour leader, and was the first Independent Labour Member of Parliament elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Hardie is regarded as one of the primary founders of the Independent Labour Party as well as the Labour Party of which it later was a part.
Initially a Liberal, by the late 1880s Hardie had become convinced of the need for a distinct political organisation representing the interests of workers. By this time he was also active in publishing radical workers newspapers.
In 1892 Hardie was elected an independent Labour member of the House of Commons representing the West Ham South constituency in London. Hardie caused a stir when he first arrived at parliament as he was attired in workers clothes rather than the formal day suit and silk hat then thought necessary for the smooth conduct of parliamentary business.
In 1893 the Independent Labour Party was formed and Hardie became its first chairman. In 1895 he lost his West Ham South seat, but was re-elected to Parliament in 1900 to serve the Merthyr Tydfil seat, which he held until his death. Around this time the Labour Movement was ceasing to be so fractured and by 1906 the Labour Representation Committee had managed to get 29 Labour members elected to Parliament.
In 1906 the modern Labour Party was born and Hardie became its leader. That same year the Liberals won the general election with a huge landslide, beating the Conservative Party - but more significant was the election of 29 Labour MPs; the first of many to come.