Bob Smillie, one of the ILP’s most prominent Spanish Civil War volunteers, will be honoured in Valencia on Tuesday 14 May when a specially commissioned plaque is unveiled close to his grave....
The Future of Progressive Politics – Taking Back Control?
Politics professor Andrew Gamble will be the headline speaker at the next ILP day school on ‘the future of progressive politics’ to be held in Sheffield on Saturday 15 December....
Dossier Delivers New Doubt on Smillie’s Civil War Death
The long-lost prison files of Bob Smillie, one of the ILP’s most notable Spanish Civil War volunteers, have finally been unearthed in Valencia, casting new doubts on the official version of his mysterious death in 1937....
Campaign Kicks Off to Reprint Carpenter’s Seminal Poem
A bid to reprint Towards Democracy, the seminal poem of Sheffield radical and founding ILPer Edward Carpenter, has been kickstarted with a crowdfunding campaign by the new co-operative publishing company, Millthorpe Press....
Ada Salter Honoured in her Home Town
Until recently, pioneering ILPer Ada Salter was little known in her home town of Raunds. GRAHAM TAYLOR reports on the first event ever to celebrate her legacy in the Northamptonshire town....
The Interwar ILP – Lessons for Today?
IAN BULLOCK assesses the record of the ILP between the wars and seeks to draw a few lessons for Labour and the left today. All in all, he says, the influence of the radical and democratic ILP on the Labour Party of the later 20th century was an extremely positive one....
Accessing the ILP Archives
The ILP archives at the London School of Economics is regarded as a “key heritage collection” by the library’s politics curator, DANIEL PAYNE. It contains a huge variety of fascinating material dating from the organisation’s birth 125 years ago, and covering much of its rich history as a significant force in shaping the outlook...
Between the Wars
The period between the two world wars was one of the most turbulent in political history. The events of that time had a profound impact on the ILP and the development of British left-wing politics, as Ian Bullock describes in his important new book, Under Siege, reviewed here by HARRY BARNES. After setting the scene...
Mary Barbour Statue Unveiled on International Women’s Day
A statue honouring pioneering ILPer Mary Barbour, who led the Glasgow rent strikes, was unveiled in Govan Cross in front of hundreds of people on International Women’s Day (8 March), after a long-running fundraising campaign by the Remember Mary Barbour Association....
Voting Behaviour
Behind the leadership of Emmeline Pankhurst were many lesser-known figures in the Votes for Women campaign in the north of England, some of them members of the ILP. ANTONIA CHARLESWORTH remembers their contribution to the fight for women’s suffrage and profiles one Lancashire ILPer who played her part. Manchester’s place in the history of...
ILP Profiles: David Thomas, Pioneer of the Welsh ILP
MARTIN WRIGHT remembers the remarkable life and immense contribution of a north Walian stonemason’s son who was instrumental in the early ILP’s growth and influence in Wales. Wales was one of the great socialist heartlands of 20th century Britain. The early growth of the ILP was, however, relatively slow there. The party began to put...
ILP@125: Reflections on the ILP’s History
The ILP celebrates its 125th anniversary this week. BARRY WINTER marks the organisation’s brithday with a brief survey of its history and consideration of the lessons it can pass on to today’s left....