# National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives

The National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives (NUBSO) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1873 and 1971. It represented workers in the footwear industry.

## History

The union was founded in 1873, when many riveters and finishers left the Amalgamated Society of Boot and Shoe Makers. They were dissatisfied by their low status within the old union, and instead formed the National Union of Boot and Shoe Rivetters and Finishers (NUBSRF). Membership in Leicester grew rapidly, with the next largest branches being Glasgow, London and Stafford. In total, by 1877, the union had about 4,000 members.
A few women joined the union in the late 1880s, making it the first union outside the textile trades to admit both men and women. At this point, membership in the important shoe making centre of Northampton was low, with only about 600 of 15,000 shoe workers in the town holding union membership. That year, a five-week lock-out of members resulted in a settlement favourable to the union. This brought in hundreds of new members, and by the end of the year, its national membership reached 10,000. The General Union of Clickers and Rough-stuff Cutters merged into the NUBSRF in 1892, but most of its members left again in 1895.
During the late 1880s and early 1890s, socialists came to prominence in the union. They led campaigns against sweatshop working and outworking, where people worked from their own homes and were paid by item completed. Under their influence, the union organised a 34-week strike in 1897, in support of a minimum wage and a 54-hour week, but this was unsuccessful.
In 1897, the union renamed itself as the "National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives", and joined the General Federation of Trade Unions the following year. Membership rose over 100,000 by 1920, although it soon fell to around 80,000. Members in the Republic of Ireland left in 1953, to form the Irish Shoe and Leather Workers' Union.
A major decline in the British shoe-making industry led the union to merge with the Amalgamated Society of Leather Workers, the National Union of Glovers and Leather Workers and the National Union of Leather Workers and Allied Trades in 1971, forming National Union of Footwear, Leather and Allied Trades.

## Election results

The union was affiliated to the Labour Party, and sponsored numerous Parliamentary candidates, many of whom won election.
| Election | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % share | Position |
| 1906 general election | Wolverhampton West | Thomas Frederick Richards | 6,767 | 50.9 | 1 |
| 1910 Jan general election | Bristol East | Frank Sheppard | 1,874 | 31.2 | 2 |
| 1910 Jan general election | Wolverhampton West | Thomas Frederick Richards | 5,790 | 47.6 | 2 |
| 1918 general election | Wellingborough | Walter Smith | 10,290 | 52.5 | 1 |
| 1922 general election | Eccles | John Buckle | 14,354 | 51.4 | 1 |
| 1922 general election | Leicester West | Alfred Hill | 12,929 | 45.0 | 1 |
| 1922 general election | Wellingborough | Walter Smith | 11,057 | 42.4 | 2 |
| 1922 general election | Wells | Len Smith | 4,048 | 18.9 | 3 |
| 1923 general election | Daventry | Len Smith | 4,127 | 17.5 | 3 |
| 1923 general election | Eccles | John Buckle | 12,267 | 42.7 | 1 |
| 1923 general election | Norwich | Walter Smith | 20,077 | 20.9 | 1 |
| 1924 general election | Eccles | John Buckle | 14,354 | 51.4 | 1 |
| 1924 general election | Norwich | Walter Smith | 23,808 | 22.9 | 3 |
| 1929 general election | Altrincham | Alfred Dobbs | 9,242 | 16.4 | 3 |
| 1929 general election | Frome | Frederick Gould | 18,524 | 45.5 | 1 |
| 1929 general election | Norwich | Walter Smith | 33,690 | 26.0 | 2 |
| 1929 general election | Nottingham East | James Baum | 9,787 | 28.0 | 3 |
| 1929 general election | Stafford | Len Smith | 10,011 | 36.6 | 2 |
| 1931 general election | Frome | Frederick Gould | 17,748 | 41.7 | 2 |
| 1931 general election | Kingston upon Hull North West | James Baum | 9,946 | 27.3 | 2 |
| 1931 general election | Leeds North East | Alfred Dobbs | 10,294 | 24.5 | 2 |
| 1931 general election | Norwich | Walter Smith | 28,295 | 21.0 | 3 |
| 1931 general election | Stafford | Len Smith | 8,640 | 31.9 | 2 |
| 1935 general election | Kilmarnock | James Crawford | 12,558 | 33.4 | 2 |
| 1935 general election | Leeds North East | Alfred Dobbs | 14,080 | 35.2 | 2 |
| 1935 general election | Leicester East | Frederick Gould | 17,532 | 42.6 | 2 |
| 1945 general election | Bosworth | Arthur Allen | 26,151 | 55.6 | 1 |
| 1945 general election | Burton | Arthur W. Lyne | 18,288 | 51.1 | 1 |
| 1945 general election | Harborough | Humphrey Attewell | 23,353 | 42.5 | 1 |
| 1945 general election | Smethwick | Alfred Dobbs | 20,522 | 65.9 | 1 |
| 1950 general election | Bosworth | Arthur Allen | 29,282 | 53.6 | 1 |
| 1950 general election | Harborough | Humphrey Attewell | 21,381 | 38.2 | 2 |
| 1951 general election | Bosworth | Arthur Allen | 30,767 | 57.1 | 1 |
| 1966 general election | Bridgwater | Richard Mayer | 17,864 | 38.1 | 2 |

## Leadership
### General Secretaries

    1874: Thomas Smith
    1878: George Sedgwick
    1886: William Inskip
    1899: W. Boyd Hornidge
    1908: Edward L. Poulton
    1930: George Chester
    1949: Lionel Poole
    1960: Richard Gregson
    1968: T. A. Moore

### General Presidents

    1878: Edward Kell
    1890: T. Horrabin
    1892: Jabez Leedham
    1892: John Judge
    1893: W. Boyd Hornidge
    1899: Charles Freak
    1910: Thomas Frederick Richards
    1930: W. R. Townley
    1938: Len Smith
    1944: James Crawford
    1957: Sydney Robinson