Ben Shaw (Labour activist)
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Benjamin Howard Shaw (27 July 1865 – 27 October 1942) was a British labour movement activist.
Shaw was born in
Shaw's socialist activism brought him into conflict with his father. As a result, he readily accepted an offer from Keir Hardie to move to Glasgow early in 1894 and work on the Labour Leader, the ILP's newspaper. While Shaw occasionally wrote for the paper, he principally took a managerial role. He also launched the short-lived Glasgow Commonweal newspaper in 1896, and through the newspaper he met and married Joanna Bruce in 1900.[1]
Now married, Shaw remained in Glasgow when the printing of the Labour Leader was moved elsewhere, and he instead found work with the Civic Press. He remained active in the ILP, serving as secretary of its Glasgow branch from 1903 to 1906, and standing unsuccessfully for the Townhead ward in 1905. In his spare time he was active in the temperance movement, and also in the
In 1911, the
As secretary of the Scottish Council, Shaw initially focused on supporting the broader labour movement through World War I, while probably being personally opposed to the conflict. He strongly supported John Maclean when he was gaoled for his part in the events of Red Clydeside, but he subsequently became a firm opponent of the Communist Party of Great Britain, notably by manoeuvering to ensure that the communist Walton Newbold was not re-selected as the Labour candidate in Motherwell.[1]
In 1932, Shaw retired from active politics, and he resigned from the ILP later in the year, when it disaffiliated from the Labour Party. He spent his retirement supporting McNab's political career, until he died suddenly in 1942.[1]