Charles III William, Duke of Rothesay Swinney government The Rt Hon John Swinney MSP The Rt Hon John Swinney MSP Kate Forbes MSP Sixth session Alison Johnstone MSP Angela Constance MSP Dorothy Bain KC The Rt Hon Lord Carloway KC PC United Kingdom Parliament elections European Parliament elections Local elections Referendums Starmer ministry The Rt Hon Keir Starmer MP The Rt Hon Ian Murray MP The Scottish Labour Party (SLP), also known as the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Party, was formed by Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham, the first socialist MP in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, who later went on to become the first president of the Scottish National Party, and Keir Hardie, who later became the first leader of the Independent Labour Party and the Labour Party.

The initial spur for the party's foundation was Hardie's unsuccessful independent Labour candidature in the 1888 Mid Lanarkshire by-election.

[2] Like many of the party's initial members, Hardie had previously been involved in the Scottish Land Restoration League.

The diverse factions had very different perspectives on the party's future, but were able to agree a programme, largely based on a draft by Hardie.

Attempts by Cunninghame Graham and Shaw Maxwell to arrange a non-contest pact with the Liberals failed, and the SLP candidates did not poll well.