This is the biography of former Labour leader Keir Hardie. I am an agitator, he once said. My work has consisted of trying to stir up a divine discontent with wrong. Widely regarded at the time of his death in 1915 as a failure, he is seen today as the inspirational founder of the Labour party, his name a source of pride. It was not just his socialism, but his utter and genuine principle in pursuing it. He believed in it almost religiously and was willing to suffer for that belief.