Contexts - The Rough Guide to Scotland - page 588

serfs, bought and sold with the pits they worked in. he 1832 Scottish Reform Act
extended the franchise to include a large proportion of the middle class, and thereafter
political radicalism assumed a more distinctive working-class character. During the
next thirty years, as Scotland's economy prospered, skilled workers organized
themselves into craft unions , such as the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, to
negotiate improvements for their members within the status quo. Politically, the trade
unions gave their allegiance to the Liberal Party, but in 1888 Keir Hardie left the
Liberals to form the Scottish Socialist Party, later merged with the Independent Labour
Party, founded in Bradford in 1893. Scottish socialism as represented by the ILP was
ethical rather than Marxist in orientation, owing a great deal to the Kirk background of
many of its members. But electoral progress was slow, partly because the Roman
Catholic priesthood consistently preached against socialism.

Red Clydeside
In the early years of the twentieth century, two small Marxist groups established
themselves on what became known as Red Clydeside : the Socialist Labour Party , which
concentrated on workplace militancy, and the party-political British Socialist Party .
During World War I local organizers of the SLP gained considerable influence by
playing on the fears of the skilled workers, who felt their status was undermined by the
employment of unskilled workers. After the war, the influence of the shop stewards
culminated in a massive campaign for the forty-hour working week. he strikes and
demonstrations of the campaign, including one with 100,000 people (and the Red Flag
flying) in St George's Square, Glasgow, panicked the government into sending in troops
and tanks. he rank and file had little interest in revolution, however, though many of
the activists did go on to become leaders within the newly formed Communist Party of
Great Britain .

The rise of the Labour Party
he ILP, by then an a liated part of the socialist Labour Party , made its electoral
breakthrough in 1922, sending 29 Scottish MPs to Westminster. heir high hopes of
social progress and reform were dashed, like trade union militancy, by the 1930s
Depression. At the 1945 general election, Labour won 40 seats in Scotland and, more
recently, the party has dominated Scottish politics. In 1955 the Conservatives had 36
Scottish MPs; by 1997 none at all, though they returned one MP in the 2005 general
election and have over a dozen MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.
he ILP MPs of the 1920s combined their socialism with a brand of Scottish
nationalism. he Labour Party maintained an o cial policy of self-government for
Scotland, endorsing home rule in 1945 and 1947, but these endorsements were made
with less and less enthusiasm. In 1958 Labour abandoned the commitment altogether,
adopting a unionist vision of Scotland, much to the chagrin of many Scottish activists.

Towards devolution
he National Party of Scotland was formed in 1928, its membership mostly drawn from
the non-industrial parts of the country. A mixture of practical politicians and left-
leaning eccentrics, such as the poet Hugh MacDiarmid, in 1934 it merged with the

1914-18 1928 1939 1939-45

100,000 Scots lose their
lives in World War I.

The National Party of
Scotland is formed.

The population of Scotland
reaches five million.

34,000 Scottish soldiers lose
their lives in World War II;
6000 civilians die in air raids.