Robert Mathieson Small (14 April 1873 – 26 September 1918)[1] was a Scottish trade unionist and political activist.
[3] The LCMU was part of the Scottish Miners' Federation (SMF), so when the Amalgamated Miners and Manual Workers Union (AMMW) in West Lothian left the SMF, Small was sent to the area to attempt to found a rival union.
Although not a success, this did lead to him spending a period as secretary of the small Scottish Shale Miners and Manual Workers' Union.
[5] Soon after, he joined the more radical Social Democratic Federation (SDF), for whom he stood for Lanarkshire County Council later in the year, but again missed out on election.
[2] The SDF later became the British Socialist Party, which considered putting Small forward as a candidate in the 1913 Linlithgowshire by-election, although it ultimately did not do so.