James Edward Mortimer (12 January 1921 – 23 April 2013) was a British trade unionist and the
Labour Party General Secretary
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
between 1982 and 1985.
[Obituary: Jim Mortimer](_blank)
telegraph.co.uk, 24 April 2013
Early life and career
Mortimer's early career was in the shipbuilding and engineering industries where he worked as a ship fitter apprentice, a machinist and a planning engineer. He studied as a
TUC Scholar at
Ruskin College
Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in 1945 and 1946 and worked at the TUC Economic Department from 1946 to 1948.
He was a trade union member of the
National Board for Prices and Incomes
The National Board for Prices and Incomes was created by the government of Harold Wilson in 1965 in an attempt to solve the problem of inflation in the British economy by managing wages and prices.
The board's chairman was Aubrey Jones, formerl ...
between 1968 and 1971, and at the same time he was the Director of the London Co-operative Society. From 1971 to 1974, he was a member of the Board of
London Transport Executive
The London Transport Executive was the organisation responsible for public transport in Greater London, England between 1948 and 1962. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of ...
. He had been a national official of the
Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen
The Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS) was a British trade union.
History
The union was founded in 1913 by 200 draughtsmen, as the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen (AESD). It expanded rapidly, and ...
. He was the first Chairman of
Acas
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) is a Crown non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its purpose is to improve organisations and working life through the promotion and facilitation of strong ...
from 1974 until 1981.
General Secretary of the Labour Party
Mortimer was General Secretary of the Labour Party between 1982 and 1985, a time of great turmoil in the Labour Party with the formation of the breakaway
SDP and the rise of the
Militant tendency
The Militant tendency, or Militant, was a Trotskyism, Trotskyist group in the British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, organised around the ''Militant'' newspaper, which launched in 1964. According to Michael Crick, its politics were based on the t ...
. During the
1983 general election campaign, at the daily press conference on 26 May, Mortimer announced that "The unanimous view of the campaign committee is that
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Labour Leader from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on ''Tribune'' and the ''Evening Standard''. He co-wrote the 1940 p ...
is the leader of the Labour Party and speaks for the Party".
[JE Mortimer "A Life on the Left" page 385 ] It later emerged that Foot's leadership had not been discussed, but created an impression that Foot needed a vote of confidence to continue. The press claimed this as an 'own goal'.
Mortimer wrote about this in his autobiography "I do not regret, that at a time when there was an effort to undermine the leadership of Michael Foot, I made it clear that this effort found no sympathy in Walworth Road. 'Own Goals' are more often than not the invention of journalistic chatter.".
He played an important role in the
miners' strike of 1984 and 1985, throwing himself into support for the miners and being given honorary membership of the
NUM in recognition of his efforts.
Personal life
He wrote several books, including a three volume history of the
boilermakers' union and an autobiography "A Life on the Left".
He had three children with Renee - his first wife. Hugh (1943),Jamie (1947) and Diana (1955)
References
*J. E. Mortimer, A Life on the Left, (Lewes, 1998).
External links
Jim Mortimer: Union official and Labour's General Secretary during hard times for the PartyJim MortimerCatalogue of Mortimer's papers held at the
Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortimer, Jim
1921 births
2013 deaths
Alumni of Ruskin College
British trade unionists
Labour Party (UK) officials