James Shaw Maxwell

[2] Maxwell stood unsuccessfully for Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown at the 1885 general election.

[2] In 1888, he attended the founding meeting of the Scottish Labour Party and was appointed as the first chairman of its executive.

Along with most of the organisation's members, he joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP) on its formation in 1893, and served as its first Secretary.

[3] He stood again in Blackfriars and Hutchesontown at the 1895 general election, this time for the ILP, and again without success.

He led a successful campaign for free libraries in the city, and for the opening of museums and art galleries on Sundays, to increase the number of workers able to attend.