Madican's Meditations on Life

Keir Hardie rose from very poor and humble beginnings to become one of Britain's most notable politicians. He was the first MP to represent working people in Parliament as an Independent (1892) and first to lead the Labour Party in the House of Commons (1906). A dedicated socialist, he was also an outspoken pacifist and the chief adviser (from 1903) to the suffragettes headed by Emmeline Pankhurst.
 
Keir Hardie was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland on 15 August 1856, the illegitimate son of a servant, Mary Keir. His mother later married David Hardie, a carpenter. Keir Hardie was sent to work as a baker's delivery boy aged 8 without any schooling and was the sole wage-earner of the family. By the age of 11, he was a coal miner. By 17 he had taught himself to read and write.
 

His career in politics began with the establishment of a worker's union at his colliery, and in 1881 he led the first ever strike of Lanarkshire miners. 
 

MP for West Ham In 1892, Keir Hardie was invited to stand as the Independent Labour Party candidate for West Ham in east London. He won and took his seat in parliament on 3rd August, 1892. The tradition at that time was for MPs to wear long black coats, a silk top hat and starched wing collar. He marked himself out as a radical both by his dress - he wore a tweed suit - and the subjects he advocated, including women's rights, free schooling and pensions and Indian self-rule. 
 
His first speech in the House was on unemployment. He put their plight so movingly and so vividly that he was christened “The Member for the Unemployed”. And he was proud of that title.
 

On Saturday, 23rd June, 1894, a massive explosion killed 251 coal miners in a colliery near Pontypridd, Wales. Two days later, the House of Commons moved a message of sympathy to the French people as the French president had been assassinated.  Five days later a motion was presented to congratulate the Duchess of York on the birth of a royal heir (the future Edward VIII). Keir Hardie protested against the motion and suggested that a message of condolence be sent to the relatives of the miners.

“As a matter of principle, I protest this Motion being passed… The Government will not find an opportunity for a vote of condolence with the relatives of those who are lying stiff and stark in a Welsh valley and, if that cannot be done, the Motion before the House ought never to have been proposed either. If it be for rank and title only that time and occasion can be found in this House, then the sooner the truth is known outside, the better for the House itself.”
 

The Tory and Liberal MPs raged against him. The correspondent of the West Ham Herald wrote: “I’ve been in a wild beast show at feeding time. I’ve been in a football match when a referee gave the wrong decision. I’ve been at rowdy meetings… but in all my natural life I have never witnessed a scene like this.

They howled and yelled and screamed, but he stood his ground.”
 

J. R. Clynes (the Labour Party Leader in 1921-22) later commented: "The House rose at him like a pack of wild dogs. His voice was drowned in a din of insults and the drumming of feet on the floor. But he stood there, white-faced, blazing-eyed, his lips moving, though the words were swept away." Later he wrote: "The life of one Welsh miner is of greater commercial and moral value to the British nation than the whole Royal crowd put together."

Imagine standing there and holding your own in determined defiance while the whole House tried to shout you down as you tried to put the case for the down-trodden and oppressed. What kind of person could not but admire this truly, truly, great man.
 

The Labour Party Keir Hardie had risen through the ranks of Scottish union officials. In 1893 he was among the group who formed the Independent Labour Party. At the opening conference, he was elected chairman and leader. In 1899, the Labour Representation Committee was formed, which eventually developed into the Labour Party.
 

In 1895 Keir Hardie had lost his West Ham seat. The national press and political parties were against him including Liberals in the trade union movement who opposed him. After a long battle to win another seat, he was finally elected MP to Merthyr Tydfil in 1900 and was one of only 2 Labour MPs in parliament. The other MP being Richard Bell who had been elected to represent Derby. 
 

By 1906 this number had increased to 26. Keir Hardie was elected leader of the party in the House of Commons, but was not very good at dealing with internal rivalries and he resigned from the post in 1908. From then on he devoted his energy to promoting the Labour Party and championing equality, particularly in the cause of women's suffrage.  
 

The Suffragettes In the House of Commons Hardie complained about the way members of the Women’s Social and Political Union were treated in prison. "That there is difference of opinion concerning the tactics of the militant Suffragettes goes without saying, but surely there call be no two opinions concerning the horrible brutality of these proceedings? Women, worn and weak by hunger, are seized upon, held down by brute force, gagged, a tube inserted down their throats and food poured or pumped into the stomach."
 

Isabella Ford, a member of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), commented:

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"His extraordinary sympathy with the women's movement, his complete understanding of what it stands for, were what first made me understand the finest side of his character. In the days when Labour men neglected and slighted the women's cause or ridiculed it, Hardie never once failed us, never once faltered in his work for us. We women can never forget what we owe him." 
 

In 1910, 40 Labour MPs were elected to parliament and Keir Hardie gave up the party leadership to George Barnes.

The First World War Hardie disagreed with many members of the Labour Party over the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Hardie was a pacifist and tried to organize a national strike against Britain's participation in the war. He issued a statement that argued: "The long-threatened European war is now upon us. You have never been consulted about this war. The workers of all countries must strain every nerve to prevent their Governments from committing them to war. Hold vast demonstrations against war, in London and in every industrial centre. There is no time to lose. Down with the rule of brute force! Down with war! Up with the peaceful rule of the people!" Despite being seriously ill, Hardie took part in several anti-war demonstrations.
 
In December, 1914, Hardie had a stroke. He returned to the House of Commons in February, 1915, but he had not made a full-recovery.

Sylvia Pankhurst later recalled:

 

"I knew that Keir Hardie had been failing in health since the early days of the war. The great slaughter, the rending of the bonds of international fraternity, on which he had built his hopes, had broken him. Quite early he had a stroke in the House of Commons after some conflict with the jingoes. When he left London for the last time he had told me quietly that his active life was ended, and that this was forever farewell, for he would never return. In his careful way he arranged for the disposal of his books and furniture and gave up his rooms, foreseeing his end, and fronting it without flinching or regret." 

 

James Keir Hardie returned to Scotland and died in hospital in Glasgow on 25th September, 1915. The man who more than any other had helped to create the Labour Party had seen his party split by the war he had opposed. He had been worn out by his efforts, but his great work and legacy would live on.
 

Solidarity
Brian Madican
July 2019