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14-567: Benjamin Pickard , usually Ben Pickard (26 or 28 February 1842 – 3 February 1904), was a British coal miner, trade unionist and Lib–Lab politician. Pickard was born in Kippax near Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire the son of a collier. He started work as a pit-boy at the age of twelve years. He earned a reputation as a studious boy and attended Kippax School. He also received religious training as

28-451: A Wesleyan , becoming a local preacher and was connected with the Lord's Rest Day Association throughout his life. He was associated from an early age with the trade union movement becoming lodge secretary at the age of sixteen. In 1864 he married Hannah Elizabeth Freeman of Kippax and they had four sons and four daughters. His wife died in 1901. In 1873 Pickard was appointed assistant secretary of

42-558: The 1874 general election . In 1880 , they were joined by Henry Broadhurst of the Operative Society of Masons and the movement reached its peak in 1885 , with twelve MPs elected. These include William Abraham (Mabon) in the Rhondda division whose claims to the Liberal nomination were essentially based on his working class credentials. The candidates generally stood with the support of

56-676: The Labour Representation Committee in 1900, followed by the Labour Party in 1906, meant that in the House of Commons, there were two groups of MPs containing trade union–sponsored MPs , sitting on either side of the chamber (about 28 took the Labour whip and about 23 took the Liberal whip). The Trades Union Congress decided to instruct its affiliate unions to require their MPs to stand at the next election as Labour Party candidates and take

70-700: The Eight Hours Bill, restricting the hours miners could work underground, although it did not become law until after his death. Pickard was active in establishing the International Federation of Mineworkers in 1890. He organised six international congresses of miners from Britain, Germany, Austria, France and Belgium which were held in Paris , Jolimont near La Louvière , Brussels , Berlin , Aix-la-Chapelle and London. He also attended about eighteen Trade Union Congresses. In 1897 his interest in arbitration and

84-823: The Labour whip. Of the 23 trade union–sponsored Liberal MPs, 15 were sponsored by unions affiliated to the Miners Federation of Great Britain (MFGB). When the MFGB affiliated to the Labour Party in 1909, most of their MPs joined Labour after the January 1910 general election . The Liberal-Labour group finally died out at the 1918 general election , when Thomas Burt (by then Father of the House ) and Arthur Richardson stood down. 1885 United Kingdom general election Marquess of Salisbury Conservative William Gladstone Liberal The 1885 United Kingdom general election

98-761: The Liberal Party, the Labour Representation League and one or more trade unions . After 1885, decline set in. Disillusion grew from the defeat of the Manningham Mills Strike , a series of decisions restricting the activity of unions, culminating in the Taff Vale Case and largely unchallenged by the Liberal Party, and the foundation of the Independent Labour Party in 1893 followed by its turn towards trade unionism. The formation of

112-613: The Liberals in Parliament. Pickard died of heart failure in Westminster in 1904 aged 61, having been ill for some time. Liberal-Labour (UK) The first Lib–Lab candidate to stand was George Odger in the 1870 Southwark by-election . The first Lib–Lab candidates to be elected were Alexander MacDonald and Thomas Burt , both members of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), in

126-583: The West Yorkshire Miners' Association and in 1876 he became secretary. He was responsible for uniting the West and South Yorkshire Miners' Associations into one body in 1881 and became the first secretary of the Yorkshire Miners' Association. In 1877 he was assistant secretary of the Miners' National Union and was a leading player in the foundation of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain , of which he

140-583: The most seats, but not an overall majority. As the Irish Nationalists held the balance of power between them and the Conservatives who sat with an increasing number of allied Unionist MPs (referring to the Union of Great Britain and Ireland ), this exacerbated divisions within the Liberals over Irish Home Rule and led to a Liberal split and another general election the following year . The 1885 election saw

154-646: The work of the Peace Society led to his inclusion in a peace deputation to Grover Cleveland , President of the United States. In addition to his commitment to the interests of organised labour, Pickard was known as an 'ardent liberal'. He served as a member of the Wakefield School Board from 1881 until 1885 and in 1889 was appointed an alderman of the West Riding County Council on which he

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168-679: Was a co-opted member. He was re-elected alderman in 1895 and 1901. In 1885 the Yorkshire Miners Association came to an agreement with the Liberal Party allowing the association to nominate the candidate for elections to Parliament for the Normanton division of Yorkshire , a constituency in which more than 60% of the electorate were coal miners. Pickard was selected and won the seat at each election under this arrangement from 1885 until his death in 1904. In return he generally supported

182-427: Was elected the first president. In 1893 Pickard led the miners in the biggest industrial dispute the country had hitherto seen. The result of the combined strike and lockout was the establishment of a Board of Conciliation to address problems arising in the industry and most disputes over the coming years were settled using this machinery. He played an active part in obtaining legislation in the mining industry including

196-441: Was held from 24 November to 18 December 1885. This was the first general election after an extension of the franchise and redistribution of seats . For the first time a majority of adult males could vote and most constituencies by law returned a single member to Parliament, fulfilling one of the ideals of Chartism to provide direct single-member, single-electorate accountability. It saw the Liberals, led by William Gladstone , win

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