Following the Sette Giugno turmoil of 1919 and the first Self-Government concession of 1921, the Labour Party was founded that same year by a branch of the Imperial Government Workers' Union. Originally known as the Camera del Lavoro (Chamber of Labour), it was led by Colonel William Savona. Its founding meeting was held on the 15th March 1921, on the 30th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII's encyclical concerning workers' rights. As a result of the constitutional reform, the party contested the 1921 and 1924 elections, but it was only in 1927 that the party was elected along with Lord Strickland's Constitutional Party. This was the result of an alliance forged between the two movements termed the 'Compact'. Savona was not elected however, and the party actually lost some ground compared with the former elections, gaining only 3 seats in the legislative assembly (now known as parliament), and none within the senate. Colonel Michael Dundon took over the Labour Parliamentary Group for a few months, but was replaced by Paul Boffa later that year, who would remain at the helm of the party from 1927 to 1949.
