Several British members of Parliament have been sponsored by mining trade unions. Many were sponsored by the National Union of Mineworkers, its predecessor the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, and the local trade unions which preceded it.

A small number of MPs were sponsored by other trade unions related to the mining industry, such as the Cumberland Iron Ore Miners' and Kindred Trades' Association, the North Wales Quarrymen's Union, and the National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers, and are covered in the articles on those unions. Other miners and people related to the mining industry were elected without being sponsored by a trade union, and are not listed here.

History John Normansell, leader of the South Yorkshire Miners' Association, presented a paper at the 1869 Trades Union Congress, on "the best means to secure the direct representation of labour in the Commons". This led to the formation of the Labour Representation League, but miners did not initially join the organisation.

At the 1874 United Kingdom general election, four miners stood for Parliament, with two winning seats, the first working class members of Parliament in the UK. Alexander Macdonald in Stafford stood as "Secretary of the Miners' Association of Scotland and President of the Miners' National Association", and Thomas Burt in Morpeth stood as a "Radical Labour" candidate. However, both worked with the Liberal Party in Parliament, and they were the first members of what became known as the Liberal-Labour group. Their seats were held at the 1880 United Kingdom general election, and from 1884 the Miners' National Union founded local political associations in areas where there were many miners. The Reform Act 1885 enfranchised many miners in rural areas for the first time, and this allowed six miners to win election. In 1886, the local political association formed the Labour Electoral Association, and when the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) was founded in 1889, its affiliated unions continued to support liberal candidates through the association.

Keir Hardie, of the Ayrshire Miners' Union, first won a seat as an independent at the 1892 United Kingdom general election, and this spurred him to form the Independent Labour Party and, in 1900, the Labour Representation Committee (LRC). The MFGB initially believed that the committee would not be successful and remained apart, but from 1902 it raised a centralised Labour Political Fund of one shilling per member, to stand working coal miners or officials as Parliamentary candidates, and then to support successful members of Parliament, as they were otherwise unpaid. Candidates were free to stand under the label of any political party, or as independents, although in practice affiliations were agreed with the local union. At the 1906 United Kingdom general election, this led to the election of eleven out of sixteen MFGB candidates.

In 1906, the MFGB narrowly voted against affiliating to the LRC. By 1908, the LRC had become the Labour Party, and a second vote was held, this time resulting in a clear majority for affiliation. Some existing MPs were reluctant to transfer, so it was agreed that they would not have to join the Labour Party group in Parliament until the next general election. This was held in January 1910, and resulted in fifteen mining trade union MPs, approximately a third of the total size of the party. However, a few mining MPs refused to take the Labour whip, and remained part of the Liberal-Labour group until 1918.Duncan Tanner, "The Labour Party and electoral politics in the coalfields". In: , pp.59–92

Miners were uniquely well placed to win seats in Parliament; by 1918, they constituted more than 30% of the total electorate of forty constituencies, and unlike many other unions, the MFGB focused on standing members in these seats, where it had the strongest membership. After 1918, Labour won the majority of seats in the coalfields. In Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Durham, the county unions increased political levies, to employ political organisers and election agents, and also support more union members in local elections. While the miners' union MPs suffered in the 1931 United Kingdom general election, alongside the party as a whole, things soon rebounded. The MFGB remained the largest union in the country until 1937, and also had sponsored the most Labour Party candidates, had the largest number of members affiliated to the Labour Party, and typically had the largest political fund of any union. This ensured that it remained influential and able to get its members selected in many promising constituencies.

The choice of candidates remained in the hands of the county unions affiliated to the MFGB. Half of the MFGB's political fund was retained by its affiliates, enabling them to conduct additional political activity, such as campaigning for other Labour candidates. The South Wales Miners' Federation instead used the funds to sponsor additional candidates, so that by 1931 it stood 10 candidates, despite the MFGB only directly providing enough funding for five. This election saw the peak of MFGB influence, with half of all the Labour MPs elected being sponsored by the union.

The mining MPs were not compelled to vote in the interests of the union, and were sometimes in conflict with it, but there was generally a close relationship. The MFGB got the MPs to propose legislation which it favoured, organise access to the government, and to ask questions and obtain information from government ministers.

The MFGB reformed as the more centralised National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in 1945, the affiliated unions becoming areas of the NUM. The number of coal miners, and with it the membership of the NUM, steadily declined, and with it the number of safe mining constituencies, and the number of sponsored candidates, which reached a low of 13 in 1987. While the selection of candidates remained a matter for the areas, they were required to be members of the NUM, and have worked in the mines or for the union for at least five years. By the 1970s, the union was tending to select younger candidates. However, unlike many other unions, it did not sponsor existing MPs from outside the industry, and as a result, by the late 1980s, none of its MPs held leading roles in the Labour Party.

Lib-Lab candidates 1874 general election

Constituency Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor Merthyr Tydfil 4,912 25.3 3 Amalgamated Association Morpeth 3,332 85.1 1 Northumberland Stafford 1,183 27.7 2 National Union Wigan 1,134 12.7 4 Amalgamated Association

Macdonald was elected by taking second place in a two-seat constituency.

1880 general election Constituency Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor Morpeth unopposed N/A 1 Northumberland Stafford 1,345 25.8 1 National Union

Macdonald was elected by taking second place in a two-seat constituency

1885 general election Constituency Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor Chesterfield 1,907 25.6 3 Derbyshire Houghton-le-Spring 6,511 57.7 1 Durham Mid Durham 5,799 64.1 1 Durham Morpeth unopposed N/A 1 Northumberland Normanton 5,615 60.2 1 Yorkshire Rhondda 3,859 56.3 1 Cambrian Wansbeck 5,858 68.4 1 Northumberland

Abraham stood as an independent Liberal-Labour candidate.

1886 general election Constituency Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor Houghton-le-Spring 5,059 46.3 2 Durham Mid Durham unopposed N/A 1 Durham Morpeth unopposed N/A 1 Northumberland Normanton 4,771 56.2 1 Yorkshire Rhondda unopposed N/A 1 Cambrian Wansbeck 5,235 75.4 1 Northumberland

By-elections, 1886–1892

By-election Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor 1890 Mid Durham by-election 5,468 61.8 1 Durham

1892 general election Constituency Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor Ince 4,579 51.3 1 Lancashire and Cheshire Mid Durham 5,661 60.7 1 Durham Morpeth unopposed N/A 1 Northumberland Normanton 6,134 61.7 1 Yorkshire Rhondda unopposed N/A 1 Cambrian Wansbeck 5,696 66.1 1 Northumberland Wigan 3,312 49.2 2 Lancashire and Cheshire

1895 general election

Constituency Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor Ince 4,790 47.8 2 Lancashire and Cheshire Mid Durham 5,937 58.0 1 Durham Morpeth 3,404 73.4 1 Northumberland Normanton 5,499 58.3 1 Yorkshire Rhondda unopposed N/A 1 Cambrian Wansbeck 5,629 69.9 1 Northumberland Wigan 3,075 43.8 2 Lancashire and Cheshire

1900 general election Constituency Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor Hanley 5,944 47.4 1 Midland Mid Durham 5,565 57.5 1 Durham Morpeth 3,117 53.5 1 Northumberland Normanton 5,025 58.2 1 Yorkshire Nuneaton 4,432 43.6 2 Midland Rhondda 8,383 81.7 1 South Wales Wansbeck 5,474 56.1 1 Northumberland

By-elections, 1900–1906

By-election Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor 1904 Gateshead by-election 8,220 54.0 1 Durham 1904 Normanton by-election 6,855 70.2 1 Yorkshire 1904 West Monmouthshire by-election 7,995 70.4 1 South Wales 1905 Normanton by-election unopposed N/A 1 Yorkshire

1906 general election Constituency Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor Chesterfield 7,254 56.5 1 Derbyshire Gateshead 9,651 65.3 1 Durham Gower 4,841 42.8 1 South Wales Hallamshire 8,375 55.2 1 Yorkshire Hanley 9,183 68.2 1 Midland Mid Durham unopposed N/A 1 Durham Morpeth 5,518 74.2 1 Northumberland Normanton unopposed N/A 1 Yorkshire Nuneaton 7,677 56.8 1 Midland Rhondda unopposed N/A 1 South Wales South Glamorganshire 10,514 63.3 1 South Wales Wansbeck 10,386 76.4 1 Northumberland West Monmouthshire unopposed N/A 1 South Wales

By-elections, 1906–1910 By-election Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor 1907 North East Derbyshire by-election 6,644 52.9 1 Derbyshire 1907 North West Staffordshire by-election 7,396 59.4 1 Midland

January 1910 general election Constituency Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor Mid Durham unopposed N/A 1 Durham Morpeth 5,874 66.1 1 Northumberland Wansbeck 10,872 70.0 1 Northumberland

December 1910 general election Constituency Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor Mid Durham unopposed N/A 1 Durham Morpeth unopposed N/A 1 Northumberland Wansbeck unopposed N/A 1 Northumberland

By-elections, 1910–1918

By-election Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor 1913 Chesterfield by-election 7,725 55.8 1 Derbyshire 1915 Mid Durham by-election unopposed N/A 1 Durham

Other parties Party Election Constituency Candidate Votes % Position Sponsor Scottish United Trades Councils Labour Party 1892 United Kingdom general election Edinburgh Central 434 7.3 3 Scottish Scottish United Trades Councils Labour Party 1892 United Kingdom general election Stirlingshire 663 6.3 3 Scottish Scottish Labour Party 1894 Mid Lanarkshire by-election Mid Lanarkshire 1,221 13.8 3 Scottish Independent Labour Party 1895 United Kingdom general election Glasgow Camlachie 696 10.9 3 Scottish Independent Labour 1906 United Kingdom general election Chester-le-Street 8,805 45.6 1 Durham Colliery Mechanics Independent Labour 1918 by-election Wansbeck 5,267 47.5 2 Northumberland

Scottish Workers' Representation Committee By-elections, 1900–1906 Election Candidate Votes Percentage Position SponsorFrank Bealey and Henry Pelling, Labour and Politics 1900-1906, p.296 1901 North East Lanarkshire by-election 2,900 21.7 3 Scottish 1904 North East Lanarkshire by-election 3,984 27.9 3 Scottish

1906 UK general election Constituency Candidate Votes Percentage Position Sponsor Falkirk Burghs 1,763 17.5 3 Scottish North Ayrshire 2,684 20.8 3 Scottish North East Lanarkshire 4,658 29.2 3 Scottish North West Lanarkshire 3,291 23.9 3 Scottish Paisley 2,482 23.1 3 Scottish

Labour candidates 1906 general election

Constituency Candidate Votes % Position SponsorJoel Dayton Moore, The Taff Vale Decision in British Labor History, pp.115-116Frank Bealey and Henry Pelling, Labour and Politics, 1900-1906, pp.290-292 Ince 8,046 70.2 1 Lancashire and Cheshire St Helens 6,088 56.6 1 Lancashire and Cheshire

By-elections, 1906–1910