Born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, Arthur Scargill became a miner on leaving school and was soon a trade union and political activist in the Young Communist League (1955 to 1962), and then in the Labour Party from 1966.
President of the Yorkshire miners’ union from 1973 to 1981, he became a fiery and effective orator and was elected president of the National Union of Miners (NUM) in 1981, embarking on a collision course with the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.
During the 1984 – 1985 miners’ strike, he was criticised for not seeking an early NUM ballot to support the strike decision.
He was a member of the TUC General Council between 1986 and 1988 and in 1995 – criticising what he saw as the Labour Party’s lurch to the right – he announced that he would establish a rival party, the independent Socialist Labour Party.
This proved to be largely ineffectual and made little impact in consequent elections.
Related Posts
Yorkshire Ripper The 'Yorkshire Ripper' killings started in July 1975 and continued until November 1980, during which time 13 women were murdered…
Joh Bjelke-Petersen 1 9 1 1 - 2 0 0 5 Johannes ("Joh") Bjelke-Petersen was an Australian right-wing politician, leader of the…
Bobby Kennedy 1 9 2 5 - 1 9 6 8 Younger brother and close associate of John F Kennedy, Robert Kennedy trained…
Edward Heath 1 9 1 6 - 2 0 0 5 Edward Richard George Heath was born at Broadstairs, Kent, in 1916…
John F Kennedy 1 9 1 7 - 1 9 6 3 Born in 1917, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the second son of…
Walter Cronkite The commentary of former CBS Evening News anchorman Walter Cronkite defined issues and events in America for almost two decades.…
Bob Hawke Born in 1929, Bob Hawke built up a position of great influence in the Australian trade union movement during 20…
Nikita Khrushchev 1 8 9 4 - 1 9 7 1 A coal miner's son from Kalinovka, Ukraine, Nikita Khrushchev became involved…
