It was Conservatives ushered in most of the 19th C worker protections
The Health and Morals of Apprentices Act 1802 - limited pauper apprentice children to 12 hours of work a day and banned night work for them - radical at the time
The Factory Act of 1833 - banned employment of children under 9 in textile mills and, crucially, created factory inspectors (enacted by Whigs but due to pressure from the Torys)
The Mines and Collieries Act 1842 was the work of Lord Shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury) under Robert Peel's Conservative government. It banned women and girls from working underground entirely, and boys under 10.
The Ten Hours Act 1847 limited women and young persons to a 10-hour working day — which effectively did the same for men, since factories couldn't run without them. This was driven by Shaftesbury and Tory backbenchers, and it passed against fierce opposition from free-market Liberals who called it an intolerable interference with liberty of contract.
The Chimney Sweepers Acts (various, 1834-1875) banning the use of children as young as 4 being sent up chimneys. (Lord Shaftesbury again)
Disraeli's Conservative government of 1874–1880 passed a burst of social legislation including the Factories Act 1874, the Artisans' Dwellings Act 1875 (slum clearance), and the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act 1875, which effectively legalised peaceful picketing — a Conservative government giving trade unions legal protections.
PaulHoule•35m ago
Read a good biography of Disraeli. Can't help looking his arc being "couldn't make up his mind about the corn laws" but maybe a good politician can't make up his mind when the public can't.
I am still laughing my ass off that The Economist gets flagged today as a left leaning publication when it was founded to advocate for free trade and still does... And of course they are politically homeless in the UK these days!
delaminator•1h ago
It was Conservatives ushered in most of the 19th C worker protections
The Health and Morals of Apprentices Act 1802 - limited pauper apprentice children to 12 hours of work a day and banned night work for them - radical at the time
The Factory Act of 1833 - banned employment of children under 9 in textile mills and, crucially, created factory inspectors (enacted by Whigs but due to pressure from the Torys)
The Mines and Collieries Act 1842 was the work of Lord Shaftesbury (Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury) under Robert Peel's Conservative government. It banned women and girls from working underground entirely, and boys under 10.
The Ten Hours Act 1847 limited women and young persons to a 10-hour working day — which effectively did the same for men, since factories couldn't run without them. This was driven by Shaftesbury and Tory backbenchers, and it passed against fierce opposition from free-market Liberals who called it an intolerable interference with liberty of contract.
The Chimney Sweepers Acts (various, 1834-1875) banning the use of children as young as 4 being sent up chimneys. (Lord Shaftesbury again)
Disraeli's Conservative government of 1874–1880 passed a burst of social legislation including the Factories Act 1874, the Artisans' Dwellings Act 1875 (slum clearance), and the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act 1875, which effectively legalised peaceful picketing — a Conservative government giving trade unions legal protections.
PaulHoule•35m ago
I am still laughing my ass off that The Economist gets flagged today as a left leaning publication when it was founded to advocate for free trade and still does... And of course they are politically homeless in the UK these days!