Following the 1867 Reform Act, the working class made up the majority of the electorate. It was now possible for members of the working class to win parliamentary elections. In 1874 General Election the Liberal Party agreed not to put up candidates against Thomas Burt in Morpeth and Alexander Macdonald in Stafford. In the 1880 General Election Burt and Macdonald were joined by Henry Broadhurst who became MP for Stoke-upon-Trent. Broadhurst joined Macdonald and Burt as Lib-Lab supporters of the government led by William Gladstone.

After the 1885 General Election there were twelve Lib-Lab MPs in the House of Commons. The formation of the Independent Labour Party in 1893 undermined the trade union agreement with the Liberal Party and by the outbreak of the First World War, there were no Lib-Lab MPs left in Parliament.