Frank Foulkes (born 1899) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 ...

. One of the most prominent communist trade union leaders in the United Kingdom, he left office after being convicted of involvement in rigging an election. Foulkes completed an apprenticeship as an electrician and joined the Electrical Trades Union. He also became active in the Labour Party, and at the

1929 UK general election The 1929 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 30 May 1929 and resulted in a hung parliament. It stands as the fourth of six instances under the secret ballot, and the first of three under universal suffrage, in which a party has ...

was an

election agent An election agent in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some other similar political systems such as elections in India, is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is ...

for the party. However, soon after the election, he instead joined 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). Foulkes gradually came to prominence in the ETU, initially becoming a

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

, then serving on branch and district committees before working full-time for the union as an official based in

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. In 1942, he was elected as the union's national organiser, in which role he became known for his negotiation skills. This led him, in 1946, to win election as the union's General President. In 1954, he led a major one-day strike of electricians. He also served as President of the

Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions The Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU), often known as the Confed is a trade union confederation in the United Kingdom. History The confederation was founded in December 1890 as the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuil ...

in 1959/60. In 1959, the union's general secretary, Frank Haxell, also a CPGB member, narrowly won a bid for re-election against

Jock Byrne John Thomas Byrne MBE (24 January 1903 – 5 December 1969) was a Scottish trade union leader and anti-communist activist. Byrne was born in Uphall, West Lothian, to Irish parents John Byrne, a shale miner, and Catherine Doonan, who were ma ...

. Byrne and

Frank Chapple Frank Chapple, Baron Chapple (8 August 1921 – 19 October 2004) was general secretary of the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EETPU), a leading British trade union. Frank Chapple was born in the slum area of ...

took Foulkes, Haxell and thirteen other CPGB members to court, alleging that the election had been fixed. In 1961, they won the case, and Byrne was installed as general secretary."Mr Frank Haxell", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 31 May 1988 Foulkes argued that he had no knowledge of any fraud and so should retain his position, but he lost a second court case in 1962 on the grounds that, given his oversight role, he should have been aware that the election was rigged. He then decided to take early retirement, receiving a pension from the union despite the opposition of its new leadership.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foulkes, Frank 1899 births Year of death missing Communist Party of Great Britain members General Presidents of the Electrical Trades Union (United Kingdom)