Editing George Lansbury (section)

==Socialist reformer==

===Social Democratic Federation===
[[File:Henry Hyndman 0001.jpg|thumb|upright|Henry Hyndman, founder of the SDF, was a key influence in Lansbury's early career.]]

Lansbury's choice of the SDF, from several socialist organisations, reflected his admiration for Hyndman, whom he considered "one of the truly great ones".<ref>Lansbury, p. 2</ref> Lansbury quickly became the federation's most tireless propagandist, travelling throughout Britain to address meetings or to demonstrate solidarity with workers involved in industrial disputes.{{refn|There being no specific trade unions for sawmill workers Lansbury had, in 1889, joined the Gas-workers and General Labourers' Union. He remained a member for the remainder of his life, and for many years attended Labour Party conferences as a union rather than a local party delegate.<ref>Postgate, p. 41</ref>|group= n}} Around this time, Lansbury temporarily set aside his Christian beliefs and became a member of the East London [[Ethical Society]]. One factor in his disillusion with the Church was the local clergy's unsympathetic approach to poor relief, and their opposition to collective political action.<ref>Shepherd 2002, pp. 40–41</ref>

In 1895 Lansbury fought two parliamentary elections for the SDF in [[Newington Walworth (UK Parliament constituency)|Walworth]], first a by-election on 14 May, then the [[1895 United Kingdom general election|1895 general election]] two months later. Despite his energetic campaigning he was heavily defeated on each occasion, with tiny proportions of the vote.<ref>Shepherd 2002, pp. 44–45</ref> After these dismal results, Lansbury was persuaded by Hyndman to give up his job at the sawmill and become the SDF's full-time salaried national organiser. He preached a straightforward revolutionary doctrine: "The time has arrived", he informed an audience at [[Todmorden]] in Lancashire, "for the working classes to seize political power and use it to overthrow the competitive system and establish in its place state cooperation".<ref>''Todmorden Advertiser and Hebden Bridge Newsletter'' report, 29 November 1895, quoted by Shepherd 2002, p. 47</ref> Lansbury's time as SDF national organiser did not last long; in 1896, when Isaac Brine died suddenly, Lansbury thought that his family duty required him to take charge of the sawmill, and he returned home to Bow.<ref>Shepherd 2002, p. 48</ref>

In the [[1900 United Kingdom general election|general election of 1900]] a pact with the Liberals in the Bow and Bromley constituency gave Lansbury, the SDF candidate, a straight fight against the Conservative incumbent, Walter Murray Guthrie. Lansbury's cause was hindered by his public opposition to the [[Boer War#Second Anglo-Boer War|Boer War]] at a time when war fever was strong, while Guthrie, a former soldier, stressed his military credentials. Lansbury lost the election, though his total of 2,258 votes against Guthrie's 4,403 was considered creditable by the press.<ref>Shepherd 2002, pp. 78–81</ref> This campaign was Lansbury's last major effort on behalf of the SDF. He became disenchanted by Hyndman's inability to work with other socialist groups, and in about 1903 resigned from the SDF to join the [[Independent Labour Party]] (ILP).<ref>Shepherd 2002, p. 77</ref> At around this time, Lansbury rediscovered his Christian faith and rejoined the Anglican Church.<ref>Postgate, p. 55</ref>{{refn|In 1920 Lansbury published a rationale for his Christian beliefs, under the title ''These Things Shall Be''.<ref>Postgate, p. 60</ref>|group= n}}

===Poor Law guardian===
{{Quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=left|quote= "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" was the basis of policy where jobs and contracts were concerned&nbsp;... the slum owner and agent could be depended upon to create the conditions which produce disease; the doctor would then get the job of attending the sick, the chemist would be needed to supply drugs, the parson to pray, and when, between them all, the victims died the undertaker was on hand to bury them.|salign = left |source= (Lansbury, summarising the extent of cronyism and abuse in the Poor Law system.)<ref>Lansbury, pp. 134–35</ref>}}
In April 1893 Lansbury achieved his first elective office when he became a [[Board of guardians|Poor Law guardian]] for the district of [[Poplar, London|Poplar]]. In place of the traditionally harsh [[workhouse]] regime that was the norm, Lansbury proposed a programme of reform, whereby the workhouse became "an agency of help instead of a place of despair", and the stigma of poverty was removed.<ref name= S54>Shepherd 2002, pp. 54–56</ref> Lansbury was one of a minority socialist bloc which was often able, through its energy and commitment, to win support for its plans.<ref>Postgate, p. 62</ref>

Education for the poor was one of Lansbury's major concerns. He helped to transform the Forest Gate District School, previously a punitive establishment run on quasi-military lines, into a proper place of education that became the Poplar Training School, and was still in existence more than half a century later.<ref>Postgate, pp. 67–68</ref>{{refn|In 1907 the school moved to new buildings in [[Shenfield]], Essex. By 1974 it had become an adult training centre; many of the original buildings were demolished and rebuilt in the 1980s.<ref>{{PastScape|mname= Poplar Training School|mnumber= 1453837|access-date= 9 February 2013}}</ref>|group= n}} At the 1897 annual Poor Law Conference Lansbury summarised his views on poor relief in his first published paper: "The Principles of the English Poor Law". His analysis offered a [[Marxist]] critique of capitalism: only the reorganisation of industry on collectivist lines would solve contemporary problems.<ref>Shepherd 2002, pp. 58–59</ref>

Lansbury added to his public duties when, in 1903, he was elected to [[Poplar Borough Council]].<ref>Shepherd 2002, p. 57</ref> In the summer of that year he met [[Joseph Fels]], a rich American soap manufacturer with a penchant for social projects.<ref>Shepherd 2002, pp. 60–61</ref> Lansbury persuaded Fels, in 1904, to purchase a 100-acre farm at [[Laindon]], in Essex, which was converted into a labour colony that provided regular work for Poplar's unemployed and destitute. Fels also agreed to finance a much larger colony at [[Hollesley Bay, Suffolk|Hollesley Bay]] in Suffolk, to be operated as a government scheme under the [[Local Government Board]].<ref>Schneer 1990, pp. 42–43</ref> Both projects were initially successful, but were undermined after the election of a Liberal government in 1906. The new Local Government minister was John Burns, a former SDF stalwart now ensconced in the Liberal Party who had become a firm opponent of socialism.<ref>Shepherd 2002, p. 63</ref><ref>Postgate, p. 77</ref> Burns encouraged a campaign of propaganda to discredit the principle of labour colonies, which were presented as money-wasting ventures that pampered idlers and scroungers. A formal enquiry revealed irregularities in the operation of the scheme, though it exonerated Lansbury. He retained the confidence of his electorate and was easily re-elected to the Board of Guardians in 1907.<ref>Schneer 1990, pp. 45–46</ref><ref name= P79>Postgate, pp. 79–87</ref>

In 1905 Lansbury was appointed to a Royal Commission on the Poor Laws, which deliberated for four years. Lansbury, together with [[Beatrice Webb]] of the [[Fabian Society]], argued for the complete abolition of the Poor Laws and their replacement by a system that incorporated old age pensions, a minimum wage, and national and local public works projects. These proposals were embodied at the commission's conclusion in a minority report signed by Lansbury and Webb; the majority report was, according to Postgate, "an ill-considered jumble of suggestions ... so preposterously inadequate that no attempts were ever made to implement it." Most of the minority's recommendations in time became national policy;<ref>Postgate, pp. 87–92</ref> the Poor Laws were finally abolished by the [[Local Government Act 1929]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Local Government Act 1929|url= http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/19-20/17/contents/enacted|publisher= The National Archives|access-date= 10 February 2013}}</ref>