Geoffrey Ayrton Drain CBE (26 November 1918 – 2 April 1993) was a British trade union leader who was General Secretary of NALGO (the

National and Local Government Officers Association The National and Local Government Officers' Association was a British trade union representing mostly local government "white collar" workers. It was formed in 1905 as the National Association of Local Government Officers, and changed its full ...

) from 1973 to 1983, when it was the third largest trade union in the country. Born in

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

, Lancashire, Drain studied law at Queen Mary College, London. After serving in World War II, he became assistant secretary at the Institute of Hospital Administrators in 1946, and became active in the Labour Party, standing unsuccessfully as their candidate in

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

in the 1950 General Election. In 1952, he began working for Milton Antiseptic, before being

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

as a barrister in 1955. He also remained active in local politics in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, London, and unsuccessfully attempted to have the Labour leader

Hugh Gaitskell Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell (9 April 1906 – 18 January 1963) was a British politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955 until his death in 1963. An economics lecturer and wartime civil servant, h ...

expelled from the constituency party when Gaitskell attempted to abandon the original version of Clause IV. Initially a

Bevanite Bevanism was a movement on the left wing of the Labour Party in the late 1950s led by Aneurin Bevan which also included Richard Crossman, Michael Foot and Barbara Castle. Bevanism was opposed by the Gaitskellites, moderate social democrats with ...

, he joined NALGO as Deputy General Secretary in 1958, eventually becoming, in the words of the journalist

Geoffrey Goodman Geoffrey George Goodman (2 July 1922 – 5 September 2013Mike Molloy"Obituary: Geoffrey Goodman" theguardian.com, 6 September 2013.) was a British journalist, broadcaster and writer. Following periods on the ''News Chronicle'' and the '' Daily He ...

, "the essence of a moderate, statesmanlike trade-union leader". In 1973 he became the union's General Secretary and a member of the

TUC General Council The General Council of the Trades Union Congress is an elected body which is responsible for carrying out the policies agreed at the annual British Trade Union Congresses (TUC). Organisation The council has 56 members, all of whom must be proposed ...

. He supported the

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...

and Callaghan governments, and in 1978 was one of the influential trade union leaders appointed to the

National Economic Development Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(known as "Neddy"). He retired from his positions in NALGO and the TUC in 1983. He was a member of numerous influential committees covering health, local government, and the law, which "brought him into constant contact with a vast range of authority at all levels". He was a JP,

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

, and a director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

from 1978 to 1986. He was appointed CBE in the

1981 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1981 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

. He died in 1993, aged 74.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drain, Geoffrey 1918 births 1993 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire General Secretaries of NALGO Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress British military personnel of World War II