| Administrative History | The Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) balloted its members on the matter of a formal affiliation with The Labour Party in 1906 and 1907, rejected on both occasions by the Derbyshire Miners' Association (DMA) and its members. In 1909 the affiliation was agreed despite the continued opposition of the DMA, which had a long-standing relationship with the Liberal Party. In 1906 James Haslam, the DMA's first Secretary, was elected to Parliament as Liberal Party MP for Chesterfield before contesting two General Elections in 1910 for The Labour Party. WE Harvey, a co-founder of the DMA with Haslam, became a Liberal Party MP following a by-election in 1906 and represented The Labour Party from 1910.
Parliamentary candidates continued to be selected by The Labour Party from trade unions over subsequent decades. Dennis Skinner, a senior NUM Derbyshire Area official, became MP for Bolsover in 1970. In 1981 the Area Council re-established its panel of potential candidates for election to Parliament. |