Archive for 'history'
Politics and the Rochdale Pioneers
Gillian Lonergan, of the National Co-operative Archive, wrote to the Co-operative News earlier this month, responding to a debate on the political neutrality of the Rochdale Pioneers. It makes interesting reading for those considering the background of the Co-operative Party. I am pleased to see the Rochdale Pioneers Museum handbook Our Story being discussed by [...]
Andy Sawford MP pays tribute to Corby’s co-operative traditions in his maiden speech
Andy Sawford, the new Labour & Co-operative MP for Corby, made his maiden speech in Parliament yesterday. Corby and its predecessor seats have an unprecedented co-operative history, with three previous Co-operative MPs since 1918, and Andy paid tribute to that heritage in his speech I am very proud to speak in the Chamber for the [...]
Why our support for Andy Murray is tinged with a note of regret
Later this afternoon, like much of the country, Co-operative Party activists will be glued to the television, screaming ‘Come on Andy’ at the tennis. But, whilst we too will be hoping for the first British men’s singles winner at Wimbledon since 1936, it comes with a note of regret. The last British men’s singles winner [...]
In tribute to Margaret Bondfield, support the Labour Women’s Network
On this day in 1929, Margaret Bondfield became Minister of Labour in the newly formed Labour Government. This was a great day for Labour, and for politics too – Margaret Bondfield was Britain’s first ever female Cabinet Minister. Bondfield had made history many times by 1929. A leading trade unionist, she published a report to [...]
The New Pioneers
The Co-operative College has produced a wonderful video showing the story of the Rochdale Pioneers and the story of co-ops worldwide for the International Year of Co-operatives. Later in the year, a major Co-operative Group funded film on the founding of the Equitable Pioneer Society in Rochdale will be screened around the country, filmed and [...]
Ninety years of serving the people
When Sam Perry, father of tennis star Fred, founded the first Co-operative Party headquarters ninety years ago in a London still suffering Zeppelin raids, few would have predicted that within thirty years it would be the third largest party in Parliament, with more MPs than the Liberal Party, or that on its ninetieth anniversary, a [...]
