Jim Mortimer | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 January 1921 |
| Died | 23 April 2013(2013-04-23) (aged 92) |
James Edward Mortimer (12 January 1921 – 23 April 2013) was a British trade unionist and theLabour PartyGeneral Secretary between 1982 and 1985.[1]
Mortimer's early career was in the shipbuilding and engineering industries where he worked as a ship fitter apprentice, a machinist and a planning engineer. He studied as aTUC Scholar atRuskin College,Oxford in 1945 and 1946 and worked at the TUC Economic Department from 1946 to 1948.
He was a trade union member of theNational Board for Prices and Incomes between 1968 and 1971, and at the same time he was the Director of the London Co-operative Society. From 1971 to 1974, he was a member of the Board ofLondon Transport Executive. He had been a national official of theAssociation of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen. He was the first Chairman ofAcas from 1974 until 1981.
Mortimer was General Secretary of the Labour Party between 1982 and 1985, a time of great turmoil in the Labour Party with the formation of the breakawaySDP and the rise of theMilitant tendency. During the1983 general election campaign, at the daily press conference on 26 May, Mortimer announced that "The unanimous view of the campaign committee is thatMichael Foot is the leader of the Labour Party and speaks for the Party".[2] It later emerged that Foot's leadership had not been discussed, but created an impression that Foot needed a vote of confidence to continue. The press claimed this as an 'own goal'.[1] Mortimer wrote about this in his autobiography "I do not regret, that at a time when there was an effort to undermine the leadership of Michael Foot, I made it clear that this effort found no sympathy in Walworth Road. 'Own Goals' are more often than not the invention of journalistic chatter.".[2]
He played an important role in theminers' strike of 1984 and 1985, throwing himself into support for the miners and being given honorary membership of theNUM in recognition of his efforts.
He wrote several books, including a three volume history of theboilermakers' union and an autobiography "A Life on the Left".He had three children with Renee - his first wife. Hugh (1943), Jamie (1947), and Diana (1955).
| Trade union offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of theNational Federation of Professional Workers 1960 – 1962 | Succeeded by Laurence Welsh |
| Government offices | ||
| New office | Chair ofAcas 1974–1981 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | General Secretary of the Labour Party 1982–1985 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
