Page "Social Democratic Federation" Paragraph 24

During this interval the SDF experienced the atrophy of its ultra-parliamentary right wing to the Independent Labour Party ( ILP ).

This party, led by Keir Hardie, was a big tent party of the left, more heavily influenced by Christian Socialism than by the atheistic Marxism of the SDF.

The ILP also had the advantage of having Hardie as a member of the House of Commons after winning the West Ham South seat in the 1892 General Election.

This enabled the ILP to argue that it was a more effective vehicle for change than the SDF.

Prominent figures such as Henry Hyde Champion, Ben Tillett, Jim Connell and George Lansbury, all left the SDF for the ILP.