Alfred Mervyn Wall (1 November 1889 – 2 October 1957) was a British

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

and political activist. Born in

East Hamlet East Hamlet was a civil parish situated immediately to the east and northeast of the market town of Ludlow, Shropshire. The name, which dates much further back than the creation of the civil parish, refers to a small settlement in the eastern area ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

on 1 November 1889, Wall moved to London to work as a compositor,Arthur Peacock, ''Yours fraternally'', p.13 and was a member of the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw t ...

(BSP). This affiliated to the Labour Party after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and Wall was unexpectedly elected to Wandsworth Metropolitan Borough Council for Clapham North in 1918. In this role, he frequently clashed with the local socialist preacher and pioneer druid

George Watson Macgregor Reid George Watson McGregor Reid was a Scottish modern Druid who established and led the Church of the Universal Bond. Little is known of Reid's early life although he may have been born in Scotland. He embarked on a nautical career and by 1888 was ...

. He was also sympathetic to

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

, and chaired the Frank Kitz Appeal Committee. Wall represented the BSP's Clapham branch at the meeting which founded the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

(CPGB), and subsequently sat as a Communist councillor. Initially one of the communist's main speakers in London, he stood as a joint Communist Party-Labour Party candidate in

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

at the 1924 general election, taking 13.8% of the vote. Wall represented the

London Society of Compositors The London Society of Compositors was a British trade union, representing print workers in London. History The union was founded as the London Union of Compositors in 1834 by the merger of the London Trade Society of Compositors and the Londo ...

at the Labour Party conference in 1925, and eventually defected to the party, although he was still a communist in 1927, when he became a joint secretary of the "Hands Off China" campaign. In 1926, he was elected as Secretary of the London Trades Council. While holding this position, he spent much of his time promoting a trade union for actors, based on a

closed shop A pre-entry closed shop (or simply closed shop) is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times to remain employed. This is different fro ...

principle. This became

Equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

, and he was elected as its first secretary. Later in the 1930s, he also served as a vice-president of the

Spanish Medical Aid Committee The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

, In 1938, Wall was elected as General Secretary of the London Society of Compositors, and stood down from the London Trades Council.V. L. Allen, ''Power in Trade Unions: A Study of Their Organization in Great Britain'', p.291 During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served on the National Arbitration Union, and on Lord Swinton's Security Executive. Wall retired from his union posts in 1945, but worked for a while as the secretary and welfare officer of C. and E. Layton.''World's Press News and Advertisers' Review'', Vols.33-34, p.24

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, Alfred M 1889 births 1957 deaths British Socialist Party members Communist Party of Great Britain councillors Councillors in Greater London Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates General Secretaries of the London Typographical Association General Secretaries of Equity (trade union) 20th-century British businesspeople