more flexible in negotiations. Gavan Duffy initially worked from temporary offices in Moor Row, and successfully rebuilt the union. He invested some funds in the Workington Iron and Steel Company, through this mechanism gaining accurate information on the finances of the mine owners. By 1914, the union was able to open new offices in Bowthorn. At the 1918 UK general election, it sponsored Gavan Duffy as a Labour Party candidate in Whitehaven. Although he did not win on this occasion, he won the seat in 1922, holding it until the 1924 UK general election. While the union long remained a member of the National Federation of Blastfurnacemen, when in 1909 the federation became the more centralised National Federation of Blastfurnacemen, Ore Miners and Kindred Trades, the union chose to remain independent. Its membership rebounded, reaching 3,000 by 1926. The Blastfurnacemen continued to try to interest the union in a merger, but in 1929, against their protests, the Iron Ore Miners voted 2,005 to 216 to merge into the National Union of General and Municipal Workers. Election results The union sponsored Gavan Duffy as a Labour Party candidate in several Parliamentary elections. General Secretaries 1894: James Flynn 1907: Thomas Gavan Duffy References Trade unions established in 1891 Trade unions disestablished in 1929 GMB (trade union) amalgamations Mining trade unions Mining in Cumbria Trade unions based in Cumbria