ABSTRACT
Manchester has a good claim to be the birthplace of the modern British Labour movement. It provides the location for the Trades Union Congress, it played a large part in the formation of the Independent Labour Party and it is home to the pioneering Labour Church Movement. Independent labour politicians faced a Liberal Party at least nominally committed to a form of Progressivism that seemed to offer a viable alternative way of securing direct labour representation, obviating the need to create a new political party for the purpose. Between the Liberal Party and the independent socialist groups stood the Fabian Society. The Manchester branch is formed in 1890 and two years later has a membership of 124. The organisation represented an eclectic group of socialists who widely disagreed as to socialist strategy. Some, such as J. W. Scott of North-East Manchester, are active members of local Liberal Associations as well as being active in equivalent local groups of the Fabian Society.
