The National Association of United Trades for the Protection of Labour was an early trade union federation in the United Kingdom. No attempt had been made to co-ordinate the activities of trade unions in various industries across the country since the failure of the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union in 1834. The idea to found the organisation was first proposed by the Chartist newspaper the Northern Star, and was then taken up by the United Trades of Sheffield, who lobbied the Member of Parliament Thomas Duncombe. This encouraged the Central Association of London Trades to convene a preliminary meeting for trade unionists in the city, which called a national conference for Easter 1845, held at London's Parthenium. The conference founded the Association, appointing Duncombe as Presid