Trade Unions

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Thomas Burt was the 1st working miner to become an MP in 1874

80 full time trade union leaders owed their career, position and influence to their religious experience, motivated by their faith to take action. 70 of these were Methodists. 46 were Primitive Methodists. 14 United Methodists. 9 Wesleyan Methodists. 1 Independent Methodist.

It is remarkable that Primitive Methodists provided more than twice as many trade union leaders as all the other sections of Methodism put together, although they only made up one third of the membership.

(R F Wearmouth, Methodism and the Trade Unions, 1959)

See: John Batey (1852-1925), George Edwards (1850-1933), Samuel Finney (1857-1935), Peter Lee (1864-1935)