LOCAL NEWSPAPERS OF THE INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY 1893-1906.

This section introduces a checklist that provides a comprehensive guide to the provincial newspaper press of the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in Great Britain from 1893 to 1906. The first problem is to define an ILP newspaper. Newspapers have been included when it is certain that they were published by branches of the ILP or when it is reasonably certain that they were published in the interest of, and with the approval of, the local ILP. The overwhelming majority were published as the official organs of branches, but there are some doubtful cases. Neither the newspapers Pioneer nor the Socialist were actually published by the ILP but in each case the only socialist party or organization advertised in them was the local ILP and in the case of the Socialist, the paper and the local ILP shared the same address. Four were imprinted with the name of specific ILP branches, who had joined the scheme, and it must be assumed that the other two were also published on behalf of the local ILP branch. A number of local ILP newspapers may have escaped attention altogether. Whereas the majority of papers were periodicals, a small number were published for a specific purpose, such as an election, and there may have been many other similar ventures which did not attract the attention of librarians or the editors of other newspapers.