ABSTRACT
There are many colourful figures in the history of the Labour Party – glamorous, flamboyant and controversial. They are often those most popularly remembered. Yet in 1906 a quiet mild-mannered Yorkshireman was among the 29 first Labour MPs elected, a man whose life’s work made an enormous impact on the lives of many ordinary people. Fred Willie Jowett of Bradford is not well known, but in researching his background for this piece it was startling how frequently his name appears in books as far apart as consumerism, feminism and even a history of Wales! Knowing even a little about the life of Jowett, it was less surprising that he features in writings about the history of socialism, radical ideology, pacifism, Christian socialism, the first and second Labour governments and the crisis surrounding the national government in 1929. All of these matters were central to his life’s work.
