The Independent Labour Party holds its first meeting in Bradford

Background. The Independent Labour Party emerged after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates. Hardie had concluded that the Liberal Party wanted workers' votes without the radical reform he believed crucial. At the 1892 general election, three working men were elected without Liberal support: Hardie in West Ham South, John Burns in Battersea, and Havelock Wilson in Middlesbrough. Arguments for a new party also appeared in Robert Blatchford's newspaper The Clarion, founded in 1891, and in Workman's Times, edited by Joseph Burgess.

Founding Conference. The Independent Labour Party was established at a conference held in Bradford from 14 to 16 January 1893. The meeting took place at the Bradford Labour Institute, which was operated by the Labour Church. This gathering was the result of a call issued at a TUC meeting in September 1892 for advocates of an independent labour organisation to convene.

Leadership. Keir Hardie, a sitting independent MP and prominent union organiser, became the first chairman of the new party. He had won the West Ham South seat as an independent candidate at the 1892 general election and had concluded that the working class needed its own party; the passages present these views alongside his chairmanship rather than documenting them as the cause of his appointment. The conference itself was chaired by William Henry Drew.