John Golding (9 March 1931 – 20 January 1999) was a
Labour Party politician and
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 ( ...
leader in the United Kingdom.
Biography
He was educated at
Chester City Grammar School,
Keele University
Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...
and the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
. After some time working in the
Civil Service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
he took up a research job with the
Post Office Engineering Union
The Post Office Engineering Union (POEU) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It represented engineering staff in the Post Office, mostly working in telecommunications.
History
The union was founded in 1915 when the Post Office Enginee ...
.
Golding was elected
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...
at
a by-election in 1969. He served in the governments of
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
and
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...
, as PPS to
Eric Varley
Eric Graham Varley, Baron Varley, (11 August 1932 – 29 July 2008) was a British Labour Party politician and cabinet minister on the right-wing of the party.
Early life
Varley was born at 15 Poolsbrook Square, Poolsbrook, Staveley, near C ...
as
Minister of Technology
The Ministry of Technology was a department of the government of the United Kingdom, sometimes abbreviated as "MinTech". The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of Harold Wilson in October 1964 as part of Wilson's am ...
, a Labour whip in opposition, and
Minister for Employment
, type = Department
, seal =
, logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg
, logo_width = 166px
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom
, headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...
. He was an outspoken opponent of Labour left-wingers such as
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. ...
and
Eric Heffer
Eric Samuel Heffer (12 January 192227 May 1991) was a British socialist politician. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton from 1964 until his death. Due to his experience as a professional joiner, he made a speciality of the ...
, whom he regarded as idle dreamers out of touch with the working-class.
Golding was a key figure in opposing the
entryist Militant tendency
, native_name_lang = cy
, logo =
, colorcode =
, leader = collective leadership(''Militant'' editorial board)
, leader1_name = Ted Grant
, leader1_title = Political Secretary
, leader2_name = Pet ...
, and especially in mobilising moderate trade union leaders to exercise their block votes to achieve this end. After he died, his writings were published under the title ''Hammer of the Left: My Part in Defeating the Labour Left'', by John Golding and
Paul Farrelly
Christopher Paul Farrelly (born 2 March 1962) is a British Labour Party politician, banker and journalist, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle-under-Lyme from 2001 to 2019.
Early life
Farrelly was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, ...
(see below).
In 1986, he left Parliament (by applying for the
Chiltern Hundreds
The Chiltern Hundreds is an ancient administrative area in Buckinghamshire, England, composed of three " hundreds" and lying partially within the Chiltern Hills. "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" refers to one of the legal fictions used to effect r ...
) to take up the post of General Secretary of the
National Communications Union
The National Communications Union (NCU) was a trade union in the United Kingdom.
The union was founded in 1985 when the Post Office Engineering Union and the Postal and Telecommunications Group of the Civil and Public Services Association merge ...
. He held this post until 1988. He had served as a member of the council of the
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre
A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...
.
After he vacated the Newcastle-under-Lyme seat,
the resulting by-election was won by his wife
Llin, who held the seat until retiring in 2001; her successor in the seat was Paul Farrelly.
John Golding's most unusual claim to fame is that he once made a speech in committee lasting eleven hours and fifteen minutes. It nominally concerned a small amendment to the bill to
privatise
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
British Telecom
BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...
. This
filibuster
A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
was instrumental in delaying the privatisation until after the
1983 general election, but with
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
's
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
obtaining a massive parliamentary majority, the privatisation was soon forced through. Changes in British parliamentary procedure mean that Golding's record is unlikely ever to be beaten.
Golding is also credited with having found a way to introduce the now typical unpredictability of
Prime Minister Questions. In 1975, he decided to ask the broader possible question about what the Prime Minister had on the agenda for the day so that he could then use his right to follow up to ask the PM anything he wanted, dodging the strict vetting system on the questions in use until then.
References
External links
*
Obituary - Right at the heart of Labour
1931 births
1999 deaths
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
British trade union leaders
Alumni of Keele University
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress
People educated at Chester City Grammar School
Post Office Engineering Union-sponsored MPs
Spouses of life peers
UK MPs 1966–1970
UK MPs 1970–1974
UK MPs 1974
UK MPs 1974–1979
UK MPs 1979–1983
UK MPs 1983–1987
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Newcastle-under-Lyme
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