The Labour Electoral Association was a political organisation in the United Kingdom which aimed to get working men elected to Parliament.
[1] At the 1886 TUC congress, George Shipton called for the establishment of funds to support trade union candidates, and T. R. Threlfall,[1] who had himself stood unsuccessfully for Parliament at that year's general election.
[1] The initial committee consisted of John Wilson (President), William Abraham and James M. Jack (Vice-Presidents), Stuart Uttley (Chairman), Edward Harford (Treasurer), and Threlfall (Secretary).
[1] The committee had some initial success, with "over a dozen" local associations established in its first year, these generally being linked to a trades council.
[3] The TUC congress agreed to support the formation of further local associations, and (through an amendment of Robert Knight) to call for the payment of MPs.
[1] At the 1888 congress, Charles Fenwick, complained that the Association was working to discredit him and other existing Lib-Lab MPs, and an attempt by John Hodge to restrict its support to independent candidates failed.