Kelty Labour Party

The Rock of the West Fife Constituency

For thirty years (1930s, 1940s, 1950s) Kelty was the dominant political force as far as the Labour Party was concerned in the West Fife CLP. There were two reasons for this. First and most obviously, Kelty produced and still does produce people of great quality. A less well known reason is in the Constituency history.

After the debacle of 1931 when a great deal of Labour support felt demoralised and betrayed by Ramsay-McDonald. Labour support weakened, the ILP decided to split from the Labour Party and Communist support increased but backed by a strong Co-operative Society Kelty Labour Party stood firm and it was the rock around which the CLP had to be reconstructed. John Sneddon elected chair and Willie Mill served as secretary for many years.

It was not until the 1960s that Glenrothes with it’s large population and younger leadership was able to rival Kelty. The continuing growth of population inevitably led to a redrawing of boundaries and the creation of a new parliamentary constituency, Central Fife.