John Edmonds (born 28 January 1944) is a British former

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. Edmonds grew up in

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

, and was educated at

Christ's Hospital School Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 155 ...

and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

. On graduation, he found work as a research assistant with the

National Union of General and Municipal Workers The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 460,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National Health Service (N ...

, moving on to become a field officer, then a National Industrial Officer. In 1986, Edmonds became General Secretary of the union, by then known as the GMB. In this role, he became known as a critic of

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

's leadership of the Labour Party. He stood down as leader in 2003, one year ahead of schedule.Ben Russell,
Edmonds to step down as GMB leader a year early
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 29 October 2002 In retirement, he has remained active in the Labour Party in south London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonds, John 1944 births Living people Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford People educated at Christ's Hospital General Secretaries of the GMB (trade union) Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Presidents of the Trades Union Congress British republicans