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James Maxton (1885 - 1946) James Maxton, born on this day in 1885, was a socialist Scottish politician, pacifist, and leader of the Independent Labour Party, a dissident working class party to the...

James Maxton (1885 - 1946)

Mon Jun 22, 1885

James Maxton, born on this day in 1885, was a socialist Scottish politician, pacifist, and leader of the Independent Labour Party, a dissident working class party to the left of the Labour Party of its day. He was also a prominent supporter of Home Rule for Scotland.

Maxton was born in the burgh of Pollokshaws (modern day Glasgow), the son of two schoolteachers. He would later become a teacher himself, joining the socialist movement after witnessing firsthand the poverty of the schoolchildren he taught.

Maxton was also a pacifist who opposed both World Wars. During World War I, he was a conscientious objector who refused conscription, and was instead given work on the barges. While there, he became involved in organizing strikes in the shipyards as part of the Clyde Workers' Committee. In 1916, Maxton was convicted of sedition and served a year in prison.

Initially serving as an MP with the Labour Party, he broke with the party under its leadership of Ramsay MacDonald, joining the Independent Labour Party (ILP) instead, later becoming its leader.

One of the best known members of the ILP, Maxton remained a prominent dissident in Parliament for the rest of his life, the only person out of 465 members of the House of Commons to vote against a Motion of Confidence in Winston Churchill's wartime government. Maxton died in 1946, still serving as MP for Bridgeton.

"In the interests of economy they condemned hundreds of children to death and I call it murder."

- James Maxton

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