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James Keir Hardie

Hardie, James Keir (kērˈ härˈdē) [key], 1856–1915, British labor leader and socialist, b. Scotland. A coal miner, he became a union organizer and in 1888 founded the Scottish Labour party. In 1892, Hardie entered Parliament, becoming the first independent workers' representative to secure election. He was a founder (1893) and first president (1893–1900) of the Independent Labour party and was instrumental in forming (1900) the Labour Representation Committee, which became the Labour party.

See biographies by W. Steward (1921), E. Hughes (1956), and K. O. Morgan (1967); H. M. Pelling, Origins of the Labour Party (2d ed. 1965).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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