James Keir Hardie

James Keir Hardie , 1856-1915, British labor leader and socialist, b. Scotland. A coal miner, he became a union organizer and in 1888 founded the Scottish Labour party. In 1892, Hardie entered Parliament, becoming the first independent workers' representative to secure election. He was a founder (1893) and first president (1893-1900) of the Independent Labour party and was instrumental in forming (1900) the Labour Representation Committee, which became the Labour party .

Bibliography: See biographies by W. Steward (1921), E. Hughes (1956), and K. O. Morgan (1967); H. M. Pelling, Origins of the Labour Party (2d ed. 1965).

Hardie, (James) Keir (1856–1915) Scottish Labour politician. He worked as a miner before entering Parliament in 1892, becoming the first leader of the Independent Labour Party the next year. In 1906 he became a co-founder and first leader of the Labour Party. His pacifist views prompted his withdrawal from Labour politics when the majority of his party's MPs declared their support for British participation in World War I, although he remained an MP until his death.

Hardie, James Keir (b. 15 Aug. 1856, d. 26 Sept. 1915). Chairman of the British Labour Party 1906–8, 1909–10 Born in Legbrannock (Scotland), he had a background as a miner and trade unionist. He founded the Scottish Labour Party in 1888, and in 1892 he was elected to Parliament for the London constituency of West Ham, founding the Independent Labour Party shortly afterwards. A devoted pacifist and internationalist, he supported the plight of the unemployed and defended the suffragettes. He was not a good organizer, but was passionately devoted to the cause of the Labour movement, so that he (unsuccessfully) opposed MacDonald's 1905–10 strategy of working with the Liberal Party. He was not always the most influential figure in the Labour Party, but he is still remembered as someone who helped make Labour a national political force.