The Labour Emancipation League was a socialist organisation in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

The origins of the league lay in the split of the Stratford

Stratford, London

Stratford is a place in the London Borough of Newham, England. It is located east northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an agrarian settlement in the ancient parish of West Ham, which transformed into an industrial suburb...

 Dialectical and Radical Club around Ambrose Barker

Ambrose Barker

Ambrose Barker was a British anarchist activist.Born in Earls Barton, Northamptonshire, Barker moved to Leyton in London in 1878 to become an assistant schoolmaster and joined the National Secular Society. In 1880, he openly opposed Charles Bradlaugh's support for the Coercion Bill. Bradlaugh...

 from the National Secular Society

National Secular Society

The National Secular Society is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no-one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of religion. It was founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866...

 in 1880. In 1881, the Club was forced to abandon its activities, although it remained in existence as the Homerton

Homerton

Homerton is a place in the London Borough of Hackney. It is bordered to the west by Hackney Central, to the north by Lower Clapton, in the east by Hackney Wick, Leyton and by South Hackney to the south.-Origins:...

 Socialist Society.

Barker and Tom Lemon from the Society joined with Joe Lane and Frank Kitz to hold regular public meetings in Mile End

Mile End

Mile End is an area within the East End of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross...

. These proved a success, and they formed the Labour Emancipation League to continue this work. The first secretary, Aaron Moseley, soon resigned and was replaced by Lane.

The League was influenced by Marxism

Marxism

Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

, Chartism

Chartism

Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...

 and Proudhon. Its programme called for:


The League soon spread across the East End of London

East End of London

The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...

. In 1884, it joined H. M. Hyndman's Democratic Federation, which was consequently renamed the Social Democratic Federation

Social Democratic Federation

The Social Democratic Federation was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on June 7, 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury and Eleanor Marx. However, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx's long-term...

and adopted much of the League's programme.