Lindsey German | |
|---|---|
 German in 2009 | |
| Convenor of theStop the War Coalition | |
| Assumed office 21 September 2001 | |
| Chairman | Jeremy Corbyn Andrew Murray Murad Qureshi |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Vice President of theStop the War Coalition | |
| In office 21 September 2001 – 14 March 2014 | |
| President | Tony Benn |
| Chairman | Andrew Murray Jeremy Corbyn |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Vacant |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lindsey Ann German 1951 (age 73–74) London, England, United Kingdom |
| Political party | Socialist Workers Party (before 2010) |
Lindsey Ann German[1] (born 1951)[2] is a Britishleft-wingpolitical activist. A founding member and convenor of the Britishanti-war organisationStop the War Coalition, she was formerly a member of theSocialist Workers Party, sitting on its central committee and being editor of its magazine,Socialist Review.
German has twice stood as aleft-wing candidate forMayor of London, coming fifth in 2004, and as theLeft List mayoral candidate in theMay 2008 elections. In February 2010, following "increasing disenchantment" with the leadership, she resigned from the SWP, after 37 years' membership.[3]
Lindsey German was born in London in 1951 and educated inHillingdon atVyners, then a state grammar school.[4] In 1970 she attended the "Stop the '70 Tour" demonstration organised byPeter Hain against the tour of the all-whiteSouth African cricket team.[5]
German joined theInternational Socialists (later the Socialist Workers Party) in 1972, the same year she began to read law at theLondon School of Economics.[5][6] She was active in the original National Abortion Campaign in April 1975, then responding to a parliamentaryprivate member's bill put forward by Glasgow Labour MPJames White,[7] and was involved in campaigns to achieve equal pay for women.[8] German had become a full-time official by 1977 for what was now the Socialist Workers Party and a member of the party's central committee.
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German was involved in setting up theStop the War Coalition in September 2001.[9] It was established to oppose the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq. German became convenor of the Stop the War Coalition, speaking at meetings and demonstrations.
In January 2004, German supported the move to formRespect – The Unity Coalition, which included the SWP and other opponents of the war in Iraq, including Muslim groups and which stood as a left alternative to theLabour Party in elections. At the SWP's Marxism 2003 event she commented: "I'm in favour of defending gay rights, [...] but I am not prepared to have it as ashibboleth, [created by] people who . . . regard the state of Israel as somehow a viable presence."[10][11]
She was Respect's candidate for theLondon Mayoral election in June 2004, in addition to being first in the list for election to theLondon Assembly.[1] She came 5th in the mayoral election with 63,294 first and second preference votes (3.3% of the total)[12] and in the assembly election came just below the 5% threshold in the top-up section (the assembly election followed theAdditional Member System) which would have gained her a seat on the assembly. In the2005 general election she was the Respect candidate for theWest Ham, London, constituency and came second with 19.5% of the vote.
On 18 April 2007 she was selected as Respect's candidate for the2008 London Mayoral election. However, a subsequent split within the organisation meant that German was not able to use the party's name in the election. Instead German stood as the candidate for Mayor and the assembly under theLeft List name,[4] the SWP part of Respect,[13] finishing in eighth place in the election to be mayor with 16,796 votes on first preference.[14]
According to journalist John Anderson, German was a leading figure promoting further ties between the SWP and various organizations such as the Muslim Association of Britain and the British Muslim Initiative.[15][16][17]
German's employment by the SWP lasted until the January 2009 SWP party conference. At that conference the proposed slate did not includeJohn Rees, German's partner[18] and another long-standing member of the Central Committee (CC). German proposed an alternative slate which did include Rees. When it became clear this would be overwhelmingly defeated, German andChris Nineham withdrew their names from the election and were not selected. As the Central Committee slate was the only proposed slate that went to the vote at conference she was not re-elected to the SWP's Central Committee in 2009. On 16 February 2010, German resigned from the SWP, along with 41 others.[19]
German was the editor of the party's monthly magazine,Socialist Review, from 1984 until April 2004.[20]
She has written several books, including two on women's rights andA People's History of London, co-written with her partner,John Rees.[21]
In August 2015, German endorsedJeremy Corbyn'scampaign in theLabour Party leadership election.[22]
In 2019, German wrote that there was little evidence for an epidemic ofantisemitism within the Labour Party, with a "very small number of cases proved, and a small number of accusations made". She wrote that such allegations were "political attacks – against Corbyn and his left wing politics, and against all those who criticise thestate of Israel for its treatment of thePalestinians. These are the real reasons for their scale and ferocity, and why they are taken up with such enthusiasm by the BBC and the rest of the media."[23]
In 2022, in response to theprelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, German wrote an opinion piece inThe Guardian criticising Labour Party LeaderKeir Starmer's support of theNATO alliance.[24]
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