Who Was William Lovatt?

William Lovatt was the most highly regarded working class Chartism leaders in the 19th Century. He was a limited radical in London. He set up the London Working Men's Association (LWMA) which had 279 members between 1836 and 1839.

It is said that he didn't understand the north of England and therefore he made little impact in that region. He founded many other groups including the Democratic Friends of All Nations and the People's League (to try and united the middle and working classes).

His ideology was based on that of R.H Towney. It recognised that social evils were the consequences of social institutions and believed that the former could be removed by altering the latter. The ideology identified that the cause of social evils was the government. They therefore expressed the need for parliamentary reform. They said a national system of education was a primary condition of any genuine democracy. This led to the separation of Lovatt from his old allies. They believed that the working class's self improvement, self help and class consciousness were key to political reform.

By the 1850s, Lovatt was a liberal, supporting woman's rights to the vote and to education.