Independent Labour Party (Manitoba, 1920)
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The Independent Labour Party was the leading
The ILP was founded in December 1920 by disgruntled members of the
The ILP took six seats in the election of 1922, and Dixon resigned from the legislature in 1923 following a family tragedy. He was replaced as party leader by John Queen, formerly of the Social Democratic Party of Canada. Support for left-wing and labour parties declined throughout Canada in the late 1920s. Queen led the ILP through the elections of 1927, winning three seats.
The party's fortunes improved during the Depression, and the ILP took five seats in 1932. Seymour Farmer became leader of the ILP in 1935.
The ILP never affiliated with the Canadian Labour Party. Initially, this was because the rightist DLP leadership had affiliated itself with the CLP soon after the exodus of ILP members. There were attempts at a compromise, but divisions between DLP and ILP members were too strong to overcome and the ILP refused to join the "national" organization as such. Later, the ILP would remain out of the CLP due to the large number of communists who joined the latter group in the 1920s. (The CLP was, in any case, a fairly weak organization in Manitoba, and the ILP leaders had little incentive to merge with their smaller rival.)
The ILP had a complicated relationship with the
The party was referred to as "ILP-CCF" during the provincial election of 1936, against the opposition of some traditional ILP supporters. Following the election (in which the party won seven seats), a group of disgruntled ILP members succeeded in temporarily disaffiliating the parties. Pressure from
The ILP organization officially disbanded in 1943. It had been superseded by the CCF some time earlier.
Party leaders
- Fred Dixon 1921–1923
- John Queen 1923–1935
- Seymour Farmer 1935–1943
All leaders were selected by party caucus, seemingly without opposition.