ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the politics of local Labour parties in the 1930s in the Manchester area, with particular reference to Lewis Minkin's 'contentious alliance' between the industrial and political sides of the labour movement. It considers the view of the labour movement as a family, albeit a rather dysfunctional one not only nationally but also locally. In cotton Lancashire, where the trade unions were active in their local Labour parties, they tended to use their influence to oppose left-wing or controversial initiatives from other party members. The Trades Council and Labour Party opposed the 'imperialist' League of Nations at the time of the Abyssinian crisis, supported the unity campaign, and opposed the national party's attack on the Socialist League. A broad based Unemployed Council was established in Bolton in 1933 and initially found some success, affiliating to the trades council, before falling victim to the sectarian politics of the Communist Party.
