Bill Hunter (1920 – 9 July 2015) was a

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

activist in Britain and a leader of the International Socialist League.

Life

Hunter began his revolutionary career as a member of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

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 ...

, when he was a part of the circle around the ''Free Expression'' discussion magazine in that group. With the decline of the ILP, Hunter became a Trotskyist and joined the Revolutionary Communist Party in which he played a leading role in its final period. With the collapse of the RCP, Hunter joined the

Gerry Healy Thomas Gerard Healy (3 December 1913 – 14 December 1989) was a political activist, a co-founder of the International Committee of the Fourth International and the leader of the Socialist Labour League and later the Workers Revolutionary Part ...

-led group known as The Club, although he had not belonged to Healy's faction in the RCP. He remained a leading member of Healy's groups until the collapse of the organisation. When Healy's Workers Revolutionary Party split in 1985, Hunter joined

Cliff Slaughter Cliff Slaughter (October 1928 – 3 May 2021) was a British socialist activist, sociologist and author. His best-known works are ''Coal is Our Life'' (written with Norman Dennis and Fernando Henriques) and ''Marxism, Ideology and Literature''. I ...

's anti-Healy faction, around what was soon renamed the '' Workers Press'' newspaper. In this group, he became attracted to the faction of international

Trotskyism Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

led by

Nahuel Moreno Nahuel Moreno (real name Hugo Miguel Bressano Capacete; April 24, 1924 – January 25, 1987) was a Trotskyist leader from Argentina. Moreno was active in the Trotskyist movement from 1942 until his death. Biography 1950s–1960s During the 1953� ...

. In 1988, he and Martin Ralph led a small split to form the International Socialist League as a section of Moreno's organisation. Bill Hunter wrote several books, including ''Forgotten Hero: The Life and Times of

Edward Rushton Edward Rushton (1756–1814) was a British poet, writer and bookseller from Liverpool, England. He worked as a sailor aboard a slave ship as a young man, and became an abolitionist as a result. After losing his own vision, he opened a school fo ...

'' about the blind

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

-born

anti-slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

campaigner, and the two part autobiography ''Lifelong Apprenticeship: The Life and Times of a Revolutionary''. He died on 9 July 2015.Bill Hunter died
International Workers' League-Fourth International, 11 July 2015

References

External links

Bill Hunter's websiteIWL obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Bill Revolutionary Communist Party (UK, 1944) members Workers Revolutionary Party (UK) members British Trotskyists 1920 births 2015 deaths People from Durham, England British political party founders