ABSTRACT
Mr. Samuel Storey was one of the defeated though he had been member for Sunderland since 1881 and had played a very prominent part among the Gladstonian majority in the last Parliament. Four typical “Gladstonians”, condemned by the election of 1895 to permanent disappearance from Parliament, were G. W. E. Russell, an aristocratic minor Minister of advanced views. “Sam” Woods, Baptist, total abstainer, President of the Lancashire Miners’ Federation and Secretary of the Trades Union Congress was one of the defeated majority able to fight his way back to Parliament at a by-election of 1897. The 1895 pollings and the first General Election activities of the Independent Labour Party are seen to have been important landmarks in “Labour’s” history, it is essential to remember that the viewpoint of contemporaries was different. Without the courage of anarchists, or the patience of politicians, they have, once more, by their part in this election, proved to be incapable of responsible action.
