William Crawford Anderson (1877 – 25 February 1919) was a British socialist politician.

Born in Gamrie in Scotland, he was apprenticed to a chemist and joined the Shop Assistants' Union. In 1903, he became a trade union organiser and soon joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP). He stood unsuccessfully for the Labour Party at Hyde in the January 1910 UK general election, and at the Keighley by-election, 1911.

In 1911, he became Chairman of the ILP, a position he held for two years, and also married Glaswegian trade union activist Mary MacArthur. From 1914 to 1915, he was Chairman of the National Labour Party.

In 1914, Anderson was elected as the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Sheffield Attercliffe. He also became a founder member of the Union of Democratic Control.

In part due to his opposition to World War I, Anderson was heavily defeated at the 1918 general election. He died the following year in the Spanish Influenza pandemic.

References

• Spartacus: William Anderson
• Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, Who's Who of British MPs: Volume II, 1886-1918

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