John Peck (August 1922''The Times House of Commons 1964'', p.140 – 28 March 2004) was a British communist

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, known for contesting a large number of elections before finally winning one.

Early life

Born in

Caistor Caistor is a town and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. As its name implies, it was originally a Roman castrum or fortress. It lies at the north-west edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, on the Viking Way, an ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, Peck grew up in

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

and was educated at

Scunthorpe Grammar School The St Lawrence Academy (formerly High Ridge School) is a coeducational Church of England secondary school with academy status, in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The Academy teaches GCSEs and BTECs, and has specialisms in sports and ...

.Death of John Peck: the people's champion
, ''Hucknall Dispatch'', 29 March 2004 He flew with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

during

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 opposing ...

and won the Distinguished Flying Cross. Inspired both by experience of postings in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and the American Deep South, and also an uncle who was an active communist, he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in 1944.Peck John
, ''Compendium of Communist Biography''
, ''

Nottingham Post The ''Nottingham Post'' (formerly the ''Nottingham Evening Post'') is an English tabloid newspaper which serves Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. The ''Post'' is published Monday to Saturday ...

'', 13 May 2010

Political activism

After the war, Peck worked in the steel industry and became an active trade unionist. He first stood for election for the CPGB in 1946, taking only 146 votes for the Scunthorpe seat on

Lindsey County Council Lindsey County Council was the county council of Parts of Lindsey in the east of England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 1974. The county council was initially based at the County Hall, Lincoln Castle and then ...

. In 1948, he moved to

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

to take up a full-time post for the CPGB area committee, and in 1955 began regularly contesting the

Bulwell Bulwell is a market town in the City of Nottingham, in Nottinghamshire, England. It is south-west of Hucknall and to the north-west of Nottingham. The United Kingdom Census 2011 recorded the population of Bulwell at 29,771 which amounted to o ...

ward for

Nottingham City Council Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It consists of 55 councillors, representing a total of 20 wards, elected every four years. The council is led by David Mellen, of ...

. He also contested Nottingham North at the 1955 general election, the first of ten unsuccessful attempts to win the seat. In his election campaigns, Peck often used photographs of himself in his RAF uniform, wearing his medals, something which proved controversial with other CPGB members. Peck became a well-known figure in Nottingham, and in the 1960 film ''

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning ''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' is the first novel by British author Alan Sillitoe and won the Author's Club First Novel Award. It was adapted by Sillitoe into a 1960 film starring Albert Finney, directed by Karel Reisz, and in 1964 was ...

'', he is shown speaking to a meeting at the gates of a factory. He served as first secretary, then president, of the Bulwell Tenants Association, and during the 1970s he was vice-president and president of the Nottingham Trades Council. During the 1980s, Peck served as national election agent to the CPGB, briefly as acting national organiser, and eventually was elected to the CPGB's executive committee. However, he increasingly came into conflict with other local members, becoming one of the few supporters of the

Eurocommunist Eurocommunism, also referred to as democratic communism or neocommunism, was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more rele ...

leadership in the area.

Electoral success

In 1987, Peck finally won the seat of Bulwell East, at his 36th attempt. From 1988 to 1990, with the remainder of the council consisting of an equal number of Labour Party and Conservative Party members, Peck effectively held the

casting vote A casting vote is a vote that someone may exercise to resolve a tied vote in a deliberative body. A casting vote is typically by the presiding officer of a council, legislative body, committee, etc., and may only be exercised to break a deadlock ...

, generally siding with Labour, but voting against them to prevent a reorganisation of council departments. In 1990, with the CPGB on the verge of dissolution, Peck defected to the

Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...

, for which he held his seat at three further elections, until he retired in 1997. In total, he contested 49 elections at various levels, a record acknowledged by the '' Guinness Book of Records''.

Retirement

Peck published an autobiography in 2001, entitled ''Persistence'', while leading the Nottingham Pensioners' Action Group. He died in 2004 after suffering ill health.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peck, John 1922 births 2004 deaths British World War II pilots Communist Party of Great Britain councillors Green Party of England and Wales councillors Nottingham City Councillors People from Caistor Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) People from Scunthorpe Military personnel from Lincolnshire Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force officers