John Alston Maxton, Baron Maxton (born 5 May 1936) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Labour Party politician. From

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

he was a backbencher Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons.

Early life

He is a nephew of the former Independent Labour Party leader and World War I

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

, James Maxton. His father, also named John Maxton, was also a

in World War I, and the younger John Maxton was himself a conscientious objector from 1955 to 1957, working on building sites and in farming. He was educated at

Lord Williams's Grammar School Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

, Thame, and subsequently attended University College, Oxford.

Political career

He joined the Labour Party in 1970 and became a prominent campaigner as Vice Chairman of the group Scottish Labour Against the Market during the 1975 referendum on continuing British membership of the Common Market. He was selected to oppose the sitting MP, the Shadow

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

, Teddy Taylor, at the 1979 general election in the Glasgow Cathcart constituency. The changing demographics of the area and Labour's increasing popularity in Scotland made it a winnable seat, and Maxton's victory was made more likely by the Conservative Party's strident opposition to the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

, which drove some of its voters back to Labour. Maxton was the only Labour candidate at that election to gain a seat won by the Conservatives at the previous general election. In Parliament, he allied with the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

in the Tribune Group, and voted against the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

. In 1983, his constituency was redrawn to his disadvantage, but Maxton ruled out a move to any neighbouring and more favourable areas; he therefore notionally gained his seat from the Conservatives again in the

1983 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1983. Africa * 1983 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1983 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1983 Kenyan general election * 1983 Malagasy parliamentary election * 1983 Malawian general e ...

. Maxton was a popular backbencher, but did not obtain much support when he stood for election to the Labour Shadow Cabinet. He was Labour's Scottish

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in 1985 and a spokesman on Scottish Affairs from 1985 to 1992. He stood down from the House of Commons at the 2001 general election and was given a life peerage on 17 June 2004, as Baron Maxton, of Blackwaterfoot in Ayrshire and Arran.

References

External links

Biography Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maxton, John 1936 births Living people Politicians from Glasgow British conscientious objectors Scottish conscientious objectors Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 Life peers created by Elizabeth II