BOLTON's first two Labour MPs are to be remembered as part of the party's 100th anniversary celebrations.

Alfred Henry Gill and William Tyson Wilson were among the first historic group of 29 MPs who entered Parliament in 1906 under the banner of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Essays have been written on the pair by two of Bolton's current MPs, Brian Iddon and Ruth Kelly, to appear in a book published by the Labour Party to mark the centenary.

Former spinner Gill was elected as a junior MP in 1906 in the days when the town was represented by both a senior and secondary MP.

He later became senior MP for Bolton until his death in 1913 when he had risen to the role of vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party and had the honour of opening the Spinners Hall, in Bolton.

A plaque in the historic building still marks both their achievements.

Carpenter Wilson, who earned the nickname 'the Handyman of the Party' because of his willingness to perform any role required of him, held the post of MP for the Westhoughton Division of Lancashire until he died in 1921 and also served as Party Whip in the House of Commons.

Bolton South-east MP Brian Iddon said: "It is very important that we remember the figures who started our party.

"Health and safety issues dominated Gill's time in Parliament. Injuries in the cotton industry were common with people often losing fingers and whole limbs. At one time the Spinners Union in Bolton was the most powerful in the world and a lot of that was down to the work of Gill."

Bolton West MP Ruth Kelly said: "Wilson was well-known for fighting to improve school meals and it is funny that 100 years later that is an issue I have been involved in as Education Secretary."

Around 10,000 people gathered in the gas-lit Victoria Square on a foggy January 22 to hear the historic election results.

The first steps towards the party's formation were taken in 1900 when members of the Independent Labour Party, socialists and trade unionists met in London to discuss how to get their own men into Parliament.

Its election success was partly a result of a secret pact between Labour chief Ramsay MacDonald and Liberal whip Herbert Gladstone not to split the vote in key seats.

Gill's great-grandson Andrew Gill, a 54-year-old care worker who lives on Station Road in Blackrod, said: "He is remembered for all he did for the workers and for the Labour movement in Bolton. We are very proud of him."