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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Keir Hardie
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(James Keir Hardie, 1856–1915) The first Labour MP and the founding father of the *Labour party. He was born in Lanarkshire and began working in the mines at the age of ten. His trade union activities led to his standing for parliament in 1888, unsuccessfully, as an independent Labour candidate. But he became an MP in 1892 for West Ham South, and immediately established a strong public image, much loved and much hated. His arrival at the House of Commons in a tweed suit and cloth cap caused a sensation and he soon became known as the 'member for the unemployed'. (The deerstalker, with which he had earlier been associated in his open-air campaigning, was replaced by the cloth cap with its stronger working-class associations.)
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He lost his seat in 1895, but was returned in 1900 for Merthyr Tydfil, which he held till his death. By 1906 there were enough Labour MPs to form a parliamentary party, of which he was elected leader. He resigned in 1911 (owing to a combination of ill health and a lack of aptitude for this new role), and was succeeded by Ramsay *Macdonald.
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