ABSTRACT
The beginnings of a trade-union-backed labour party had appeared in 1892 when the Scottish United Trades Councils Labour Party had endorsed seven candidates. The choice for candidate fell on Robert Smillie and his campaign was financed largely by the miners, who, since 1900, had been committed to promoting labour representation. The Labour Leader was published in Glasgow until 1904, when it was moved to Manchester, but Tom Johnston, a young Fabian, started forward in 1906 to publicise socialist views. The emerging labour movement was also confronting a Liberal Party in which attitudes were hardening. The Labour Party’s actions in this by-election left a disillusioned membership in Dundee and members dropped away. The fact that so many potential Labour voters never found their way on to the electoral role had long been recognised as a major weakness and admonitions to work for registration had been frequent in the labour press.
