Labour Party of Bancairn

The Labour Party (originally Labourers & Workers Party) is a Bancairn political party, founded in 1831 by John LeMazure.

Before 1839
Though its manifesto was written in 1831, the existence of the Bancairn Labourers & Workers Party wasn't made public until 1838, in what many believe was the most insolent jibe at the King ever. The public evocation of a democratic political party was made illegal by the Council soon afterwards, as LeMazure was once again sent to prison. However, when the Republic was founded, the Labour Party was re-established, but its lack of a true leader was to disadvantage it in the following series of elections, which it all failed to win a majority in.

1839-1867
The Labour Party, quite unusually, was formed at a time when the main doctrines of socialism were non-existent and were hardly known. As a result, what became the Labour Party had blurred borders and not a very definite stance in Parliament. The first Labour Party members were more parented to the defunct Whigs than true socialists or social democrats, and the word "labour" was often misleading, as the notions of organized labour did not yet exist, the industry being relatively small. So, from 1839 to 1867, the Labour Party was merely a way of opposing the Conservative Party and providing Bancairn politics with "another side" of matters and "opposition Conservatives".

However, on the rare occasions on which worker's interests were concerned, Labour consistently took the side of the Conservatives, preferring dialog to strikes and keeping away from the people. The few Labour politicians to actually leave the comfortable position of institutionalized opposition were true socialists, such as William Hodney, who were more spontaneous Christians, interpreting social charity in a certain way, rather than ideological socialists.

The 1867 General Election
In 1867, The Labour Party won support in Parliament from a fraction of the Liberal Democrats and Radical Party, which enabled Labour candidate Howard Neighbor to win the premiership. It was the first minority Government in the history of the Bancairn Republic, as the Conservative Party were still a majority in the House of Commons.