George Hardie

Who was George Hardie?

George Downie Blyth Crookston Hardie was a Scottish Labour politician, and the younger brother of the party's founder Keir Hardie.

After leaving school, he became an engineer and an activist in the Independent Labour Party.

He first stood for election to the House of Commons at the 1918 general election, when he unsuccessfully contested the Glasgow Springburn constituency for the Labour Party. He won the Springburn seat with a large majority at the 1922 general election, helped by the absence of a Liberal Party candidate. He was re-elected at the next three general elections, but when Labour's vote collapsed at the 1931 general election, Hardie was one of those who lost his seat — by a majority of only 34 votes, the left-wing vote having been divided by the presence of a Communist Party candidate.

Hardie was re-elected with a large majority at the 1935 general election, and died in office two years later.