Alan Raymond Jinkinson (27 February 1935 – 6 November 2022) was a British trade union leader. Jinkinson was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

on 27 February 1935, and was educated at King Edward VII School in the city. After

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Royal Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

, he took a place at Keble College, Oxford, gaining a degree in history, and then became, first, an accountant, and then a teacher, before joining the public service trade union

NALGO The National and Local Government Officers' Association was a British trade union representing mostly local government "white collar" workers. It was formed in 1905 as the National Association of Local Government Officers, and changed its full ...

(National and Local Government Officers' Association) in its education department in 1960. Jinkinson stood for the Labour Party in the

1962 Orpington by-election The Orpington by-election in 1962 is often described as the start of the Liberal Party revival in the United Kingdom. The by-election was caused by the appointment of Donald Sumner, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Orpington, as a coun ...

. A supporter of Hugh Gaitskell, he attacked

Eric Lubbock Eric Reginald Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury (29 September 1928 – 14 February 2016), was an English politician and human rights campaigner. He served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Orpington from 1962 to 1970. He then served in the House ...

, the Liberal Party candidate for supporting unilateral nuclear disarmament. However, Lubbock won the seat, while Jinkinson took third place with 12.4% of the vote, losing his deposit. Jinkinson also stood for Labour at Hendon North in the 1964 general election, losing but reducing the Conservative majority. He became deputy general secretary of NALGO in 1981, and succeeded John Daly as general secretary in 1990, helping to oversee the union's merger with

NUPE Nupe may refer to: *Nupe people, of Nigeria *Nupe language, their language *The Bida Emirate, also known as the Nupe Kingdom, their former state *A member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African Amer ...

and COHSE in 1993 to form

Unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

. He remained general secretary of Unison before retiring in 1996.''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 29 October 1992
Public Services Management: A rational response in Unison
/ref> Jinkinson died on 6 November 2022, at the age of 87.

References

1935 births 2022 deaths British trade union leaders General Secretaries of NALGO General Secretaries of Unison (trade union) People educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates {{UK-trade-unionist-bio-stub