The Parliamentary Labour Party papers, 1968/69-1993/94, and the Independent Labour Party records, 1893-1960 are part of British Online Archives.
The Independent Labour Party (ILP), established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, was composed of delegates largely drawn from the industrial north and Scotland and chaired by Keir Hardie. Lack of success in the elections motivated the ILP to join with other political parties to form the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) in 1900 and it had great influence in the early develpment of the LRC. In 1906 the LRC renamed itself the Labour Party and the elected MPs from this party were the Parliamentary Labour Party.
After many years of disagreements within the party, the ILP chose to disaffiliate from the Labour Party, which led to a sharp fall in ILP membership. The last MP to be elected as an ILP candidate was James Carmichael in 1946.
The papers of the party included in British Online Archives are currently held at the London School of Economics and Political Science and consist of:
Annual Reports of the Independent Labour Party, 1893-1932
ILP Minute Books, 1893-1909
ILP Minute Books, 1893-1909
Weekly Notes for Speakers, 1926-1931
The papers of the Parliamentary Labour Party included in British Online Archives are currently held at the Labour History Archive and Study Centre. Included in this collection are:
Liaison Committee meetings
Party meetings
Shadow Cabinet meetings
Working Party on Standing Orders meetings