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British Labour Party Papers, 1906–1969

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A black and white image of Clement Attlee addressing a crowd shortly after leading Labour to victory.

Parliamentary Labour Party papers, 1906-1969

There is only one hope for mankind - and that is democratic socialism. There is only one party in Great Britain which can do it - and that is the Labour Party.
Aneurin "Nye" Bevan,  Minister for Health, 1945-1951

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Learn about the Labour Party's early years in opposition and government

The Labour Party was founded in 1900 to represent the interests of trade unions and working-class voters. In political terms, it has often been characterised as a “broad church”, encompassing a range of left and centre-left viewpoints. 

This collection contains minutes and related records compiled by the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) during the period 1906–1969. These records cover the party’s formative years, from its creation and early successes through the governments of Ramsay MacDonald and the wartime coalition, to the Attlee administration and Harold Wilson’s first premiership. 

The records provide an insight into the PLP’s often divided outlook on several important domestic and international political issues, including the campaign for women’s suffrage; the Great Depression; the First and Second World Wars; the Beveridge Report and the emergence of the post-war welfare state; Britain’s nuclear weapons programme; imperialism and decolonisation; and Britain’s potential membership of the European Economic Community (EEC).

Contents

British Labour Party Papers, 1906–1969...

Parliamentary Labour Party papers, 1906-1969

Discover 
On the left, a man wearing a suit, and on the right, a woman wearing a white blouse.

Highlights

Top of a page recording the minutes of a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on 21 March 1906.

Licensed to access First meetings of the Parliamentary Labour Party, 1906

These minutes provide an insight into the earliest meetings of the PLP, which focussed on issues such as women's suffrage and trade union legislation.
Top of a page recording the minutes of a special meeting on 15 May 1941 regarding the Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act.

Licensed to access The Parliamentary Labour Party during the Second World War, 1940-1941

These minutes show how the party struggled to adapt to the realities of the war, often sacrificing its socialist and internationalist principles in the name of national unity.
Cover of A Declaration of Labour Policy for the Consideration of the Nation, featuring the title Let Us Face The Future at the top and a red V shape in the background.

Licensed to access Labour’s ‘prosperous peace’ and social reform, 1945-1946

In 1945, the Labour Party swept to power with its first ever parliamentary majority. These minutes highlight the internal debates that eventually gave rise to the modern British welfare state.
Cut-out of a photograph of Clement Atlee alongside the words Britain - and the Bomb.

Licensed to access Debates on nuclear weapons and colonialism, 1954-1955

During its years in opposition in the 1950s, the PLP was wracked by debates on colonialism and the ever expanding global arsenal of nuclear weapons. These minutes tell both sides of the story.

Insights

  • The collection was curated in association with the Manchester-based Labour History Archive & Study Centre. The centre holds the complete records of the national Labour Party and Communist Party of Great Britain, archives of working-class organisations, personal papers of radical politicians, writers and activists, and over 95,000 photographs relating to the growth of democracy in Britain.
  • The collection is largely comprised of minutes from PLP Meetings, though it does include some supplementary materials relating to annual party conferences.
  • The PLP is the collective body of Labour Members of Parliament.
  • Most of the material is in typescript, but some of the earlier minutes are in manuscript.
  • The minutes shed light on a number of issues that caused disagreement within the PLP, including nuclear disarmament, Britain’s entry into the EEC, and Clause IV.
  • The minutes are organised chronologically into volumes of roughly equal size.
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