100th Anniversary of the election of the first Labour County Councillor in 1892

In March 1892 George Garside, a Slaithwaite born blacksmith and founder of Slaithwaite Social Democratic Club was elected to West Riding County Council for what was essentially the current Colne Valley electoral ward. 

Garside was the first socialist (Labour) candidate to gain a seat on a County Council in Britain and won in a straight fight against the Liberal, gaining 55.1% of the vote. 

He sat as a ILP Labour County Councillor until his death in 1907 aged 63.

(picture above of Victor Grayson speaking from a famous Clarion Van, Grayson was elected in 1907 as Socialist MP for  Colne Valley)

Independent Labour Party Executive Council 1899

Independent Labour Party (ILP)
Executive Council 1899

Back row, left to right
Ramsay MacDonald, Joseph Burgess, James Parker, J. Penny, F. Littlewood,

Front row, left to right
Bruce Glasier, Kier Hardie, H. Russell Smart, Philip Snowden

NOTES:

Joseph Burgess was the editor of the Workingman's Times pro trade union

France Littlewood, France attended the founding conference of the ILP in Bradford in 1893, beginning an allegiance to the party which lasted thirty five years. He was appointed one of the auditors and in 1896 became national treasurer and a member of the party’s National Administrative Council (NAC).November 1891, the committee of the newly formed Colne Valley Labour Union (CVLU)

In March 1892 George Garside, a Slaithwaite born blacksmith and founder of Slaithwaite Social Democratic Club was elected to West Riding County Council for what was essentially the current Colne Valley electoral ward. He was the first socialist (Labour) candidate to gain a seat on a County Council in Britain and won in a straight fight against the Liberal, gaining 55.1% of the vote. He sat as a ILP Labour County Councillor until his death in 1907 aged 63.