Charles Andrew Smith MM (1895 – 1984) known as C. A. Smith, was an English politician who held prominent positions in several minor parties. Born in

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

, Smith studied at the University of Durham and the University of London,''The Labour Who's Who 1927'', p.201 then trained as a

school teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, and later worked as a tutor for the Workers' Educational Association. During World War I, he served in The

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

as a Stretcher Bearer and received the Military Medal. During World War II Smith taught history at

Huntingdon Grammar School Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

. Smith was a Labour Party and Independent Labour Party (ILP) parliamentary candidate for Dulwich in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

and

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

and in New Forest and Christchurch in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

. In 1933, he attended a conference of left socialists, organised by the ILP. Following its conclusion, Smith and John Paton travelled to meet Trotsky. After this meeting, he argued broadly in favour of the Fourth International until at least 1935. In 1939, he succeeded James Maxton as Chairman of the ILP. World War II began the same year, and the ILP opposed it, but in 1941 Smith surprised the party by announcing that he supported the prosecution of the war. As such, he resigned both from the ILP and his role as chair. Shortly afterwards, he joined the Common Wealth Party as its Research Officer, and in 1944 he succeeded

Kim Mackay Ronald William Gordon Mackay (3 September 1902 – 15 January 1960), known as Kim Mackay, was an Australian-born British Labour Party (and briefly Common Wealth Party) politician known for his European federalist views. Born in Bathurst, New So ...

as the party chairman. With the onset of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, Smith became increasingly

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

, and increasingly a proponent of Zionism. Unable to gain support in Common Wealth for his ideas, he left in 1948. Smith began working with a range of anti-communists, including Jack Tanner of the

Amalgamated Engineering Union The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major United Kingdom, British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History ...

, the Duchess of Atholl (founder of the British League for European Freedom) and Conservative Party MP Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton, founding

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President L ...

in 1951, which aimed to combat communism in the trade unions. He soon became its general secretary, but the group dissolved itself into Industrial Research and Information Services in 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, C. A. 1895 births Year of death missing Alumni of the University of London English politicians British Zionists Common Wealth Party politicians Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members People from Bishop Auckland Recipients of the Military Medal Alumni of Armstrong College, Durham Common Wealth Party