Frank Leslie Haxell (25 June 1912 – 26 May 1988) 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 ...

and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

activist.

Career

Born in Islington, Haxell worked as an

electrician An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...

and joined the Electrical Trades Union in 1929. In 1935, he 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).Graham Stevenson,
Haxell, Frank
, ''Compendium of Communist Biography'' A prominent and militant activist, he supported an unofficial strike in

Chorley, Lancashire Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

, in 1939, and as a result was barred from holding office in the union for five years."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 Working with other CPGB members, Haxell was central to successful opposition to a wage freeze during 1950 and 1951, and was elected as assistant general secretary of the union in 1948. When the general secretary, Walter Stevens, died suddenly in 1954, Haxell stood in the election for the post, defeating Jock Byrne. Under Haxell's leadership, the union was widely criticised and accused of vote-rigging.

Les Cannon Sir Leslie Cannon CBE (21 February 1920 – 9 December 1970) was a prominent British trade union official and served as General President of the Electrical Trades Union from 1963 to 1970. He was born in Wigan, the son of a coal miner, and bec ...

, a CPGB member, was very critical of the

Soviet invasion of Hungary The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

, while Haxell was not. Cannon resigned from the party and worked with Labour Party Members of Parliament John Freeman and

Woodrow Wyatt Woodrow may refer to: People *Woodrow (name), a given name and a surname Places Canada *Woodrow, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community United Kingdom *Woodrow, Buckinghamshire, England *Woodrow, Cumbria, England United States *Woodrow, Color ...

in an attempt to change the leadership of the union."Frank Haxell: key figure in union corruption trial", ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 2 June 1988 Haxell was re-elected general secretary in 1959, an election Byrne had widely been expected to win. 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 Haxell to court, along with president

Frank Foulkes Frank Foulkes (born 1899) was a British trade unionist. 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 ...

and fourteen other CPGB members, alleging that the election had been fixed. Byrne and Chapple won the case in 1961, Byrne being declared general secretary by the court. Haxell was then expelled from the union, and agreed to resign from the CPGB. Haxell returned to working as an electrician, and was later permitted to rejoin the union, but not to hold office in it.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haxell, Frank 1912 births 1988 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain members General Secretaries of the Electrical Trades Union (United Kingdom) People from the London Borough of Islington