Labour History Review
‘These Apish Tricks’: Newspaper Cartooning and the Struggle for the Labour Party, 1900–19141
Abstract
The Labour Party’s use of cartoons is an underexplored aspect of its history. This article examines the role of cartooning in Labour’s formative struggles, as a constituent of the cultural processes that helped shape the Labour alliance, prior to the First World War. From the early campaigns of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), official cartoon blocks were commissioned for election posters, handbills, and newspapers. Rank and file artists were central to their production, with many seconded from socialist or trade union publications. Prior to the launch of the