In the 1860s, the Leicester unions of Labourers, Trimmers, Hose Shirt and Drawers, and Sock and Top Union, formed a loose association to discuss matters of common interest, under the leadership of Isaac Abbott.
In 1872, on the initiative of Daniel Merrick, it was replaced by a broader organisation, the Leicester Trades Council.
The formation was inspired by concern over the Criminal Law Amendment Act, and perhaps also by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) being held in Nottingham in 1871.
From the late 1960s, the trades council became strongly involved in anti-racist activity in the city.
In 1977, after the Conservative Party-controlled council gave the National Front permission to sell their paper outside Leicester Town Hall, the council's anti-racist committee organised a successful picket of it.