of the national and regional organisations, chief of which being the Co-operative Union to which the LCS subscribed. The LCS was also a shareholding member of the English Co-operative Wholesale Society, generally known as the CWS, a federal wholesaling organisation for co-operative societies in England and Wales. 1950s-era establishments consisted of grocers, butchers, fruit, vegetable and flower sellers, coal depots, furniture sellers, drapers, tailors, footwear sellers, chemists, laundries, estate agencies, funeral services and even guesthouses. LCS administered many manufacturing and processing establishments. It had creameries located at various places in the West Country, including Puxton, Somerset which served as a regional railhead, product from which was transported via milk trains to the main London creamery and distribution point at West Ealing. Politics Politically, the Society has also had a major impact. In the interwar years, the LCS Political Committee played an important role in winning Londoners over to the Labour Party, mobilising people behind co-operative ideals, and shaping policy at a national level, working as part of the national Co-operative Party. In 1938, LCS initiated a boycott against Japanese goods, encouraging the Cooperative Wholesale Society to follow its example. At the 1945 election, all 11 LCS-sponsored candidates were elected, including Dan Chater in Bethnal Green North East, Percy Holman in Bethnal Green South West and C.S.Ganley in Battersea South. Alfred Barnes, also elected for East Ham South, even became a Cabinet Minister in the Attlee administration after 1945. In the post-war world, it continued as an important campaigning force, providing key organisational backing for mass movements like Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Anti-Apartheid, supporting the fight against the Vietnam War and campaigns during the miner's strikes, and generally at the forefront of the campaign for peace, co-operation and socialism. A political presence was also maintained in the House of Commons through the work of MPs, such as Stan Newens and Laurie Pavitt. Alf Lomas (the former Secretary of the London Co-op Political Committee) was also an MEP and Leader of the British Labour Group of MEPs. References Collection Description of the London Co-operative Society archive, held at the Bishopsgate Institute, London Other London-area consumer co-operative societies South Suburban Co-operative Society Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society Enfield Highway Co-operative Society Invicta Co-operative Society Former co-operatives of the United Kingdom Defunct companies of the United Kingdom Consumers' co-operatives of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1920 Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom