As communications improved, the influence of trade unionism grew. 1868 saw the birth of the Trades Union Congress, and the 1870s and 1880s brought organisation to a variety of key industries: gas workers, dockers, railwaymen, farm workers, builders, labourers, etc. Increasingly, trade unionists were able to apply politicial pressure - to give working people the vote, legalise trade unionism and bring in laws to improve conditions at work. In 1885, 11 trade unionists were elected to Parliament, as members of the Liberal Party.