Hugh P. Bolton (died 1947) 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 union 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 benefits ( ...

official who also served on the

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

of the Labour Party. Bolton was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, but brought up in London. While he was named "Hugh", throughout his life, his close friends called him Ben Bolton. He became a telephone engineer, and joined the London West branch of the Electrical Trades Union. By 1914, he was serving on the union's London District Committee, but was expelled from the union in 1915 along with most of the committee's members, for sending circulars to union members without the permission of the national executive. Bolton was soon readmitted to the union, and by 1919 he was a member of its executive committee. On the committee, he was known as a supporter of

syndicalism Syndicalism is a Revolutionary politics, revolutionary current within the Left-wing politics, left-wing of the Labour movement, labor movement that seeks to unionize workers Industrial unionism, according to industry and advance their demands t ...

, who often worked closely with Jock Muir. He resigned from the executive after a strike for shorter hours which he supported was ended by a vote of all the members, but he personally retained much support from members, and was persuaded to rescind his resignation. In 1925, Bolton was elected as the union's full-time national organiser. He focused on recruitment, and his organising trips to the West Country in 1927, which succeeded in greatly increasing membership in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, were held up as an example to the whole union. Bolton stood to become general secretary of the union in 1941, but took third place behind

Ernest Bussey Ernest William Bussey (9 December 1891 – 16 July 1958) was a British trade union leader. Bussey grew up in West Ham and qualified as an electrical engineer. He worked for the West Ham Corporation, then for London County Council. He also ...

and Frank Foulkes, ahead of Walter Stevens and Paul McArdle. When Bussey won the run-off election, Bolton stood for the vacant position of general president, defeating Stevens by 12,854 votes to 8,772. He was the first person to hold the post on a full-time basis. His opponents claimed that he had underestimated his age by one year, in order to qualify to run in the election, but this was never proven. As general president, Bolton began suffering from poor health. He was elected to the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party in 1944, but was unable to attend any meetings, due to his health. He retired in late 1945, shortly after the end of

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 ...

. He died two years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolton, Hugh Year of birth missing 1947 deaths British syndicalists General Presidents of the Electrical Trades Union (United Kingdom) Labour Party (UK) people Trade unionists from Birmingham, West Midlands