Scottish Workers' Representation Committee

Scottish Workers' Representation Committee
General Secretary	Robert Allan (1900–1902) George Carson (1902–1909)
Founded	1899
Dissolved	1909
Merged into	Labour Party
Trade Union Wing	Scottish Trades Union Congress
Ideology	Big Tent Socialism
Political position	Left-wing
Politics of Scotland Political parties Elections

Scottish Workers' Representation Committee was the parliamentary outfit of the Scottish Trades Union Congress 1899-1909. It was known as the Scottish Workers Parliamentary Elections Committee until 1903. In contrast to the Labour Representation Committee in England, SWRC was able to maintain organisational unity between different strands of ideological tendencies in Scotland, ranging from Marxist, Catholic and Fabian socialists.

The SWPEC's first contest was the 1900 UK general election. It sponsored radical journalist A. E. Fletcher in Glasgow Camlachie. He took 3,107 votes and did not win the seat. It then stood Robert Smillie, a leader of the miners' trade union, in the North East Lanarkshire by-election, 1901, who was also defeated. When another by-election arose in North East Lanarkshire, in 1904, another miners' leader was selected, John Robertson, who again failed to win the seat.

In the 1906 parliamentary elections SWRC stood five candidates: Robertson in North East Lanarkshire, Joseph Sullivan in North West Lanarkshire, David Gilmour in Falkirk Burghs, James Brown in North Ayrshire, and Smillie in Paisley. The candidates won a total of 14,877 votes, but again failed to win a seat.

In 1909, the SWRC was dissolved and merged with the Labour Party. In 1915 a Scottish Council was formed within the Labour Party.

Election results

1900 UK general election

Constituency	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Position
Glasgow Camlachie	Alfred Ewen Fletcher	3,107	41.7	2

By-election, 1900 - 1906

Election	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Position
North East Lanarkshire by-election, 1901	Robert Smillie	2,900	21.7	3
North East Lanarkshire by-election, 1904	John Robertson	3,984	27.9	3

1906 UK general election

Constituency	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Position
Falkirk Burghs	David Gilmour	1,763	17.5	3
North Ayrshire	James Brown	2,684	20.8	3
North East Lanarkshire	John Robertson	4,658	29.2	3
North West Lanarkshire	Joseph Sullivan	3,291	23.9	3
Paisley	Robert Smillie	2,482	23.1	3