James Smith Middleton (12 March 1878 – 18 November 1962) was a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and political organiser best known for serving as the

General Secretary of the Labour Party The General Secretary of the Labour Party is the most senior employee of the British Labour Party, and acts as the non-voting secretary to the National Executive Committee. When there is a vacancy the National Executive Committee selects a provi ...

Biography

In 1878, Middleton was born in

Clarborough Clarborough is a village in the civil parish of Clarborough and Welham, in the district of Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire, England. Clarborough is located north-east from the centre of Retford. In 2019 it had an estimated population of 1305. Hist ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. He worked for a printer, then as a journalist on his father's

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

journal, the '' Workington Star''. He joined the

Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was founded in Portland, Maine, in 1881 by Francis Edward Clark, as an interdenominational Christian youth society encouraging them to "work together to know God in Jesus Christ". Operating interna ...

and the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

, then served in prominent roles on

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

Trades Council A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of labour unions or union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, region, or provincial or ...

and the local Labour Representation Committee.Middleton, James Smith
, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' In 1900, while in

, Middleton met and married his first wife, the former Mary Muir, who was working locally as a domestic servant.Cathy Hartley, ''A Historical Dictionary of British Women'', p.316 In 1902, Middleton moved to work on the '' Harringay Mercury'', and became the first Assistant Secretary of the Labour Party. He remained in this role for many years, a close supporter of Ramsay MacDonald. In 1911, Middleton's first wife

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

died after a lengthy battle with cancer.Collette, Christine (1989). ''For Labour and for Women: The Women's Labour League, 1906-1918'', p.91. Middleton opposed World War I, founding the

War Emergency Workers' National Committee War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, and was initially enthusiastic about the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

. In 1920, Middleton was one of the joint secretaries of the

National Council of Action The National Council of Action was an organisation established on 5 August 1920 by the Labour movement in the United Kingdom to forestall the involvement of the British Empire in another war in 1920. Ernest Bevin had heard that the Royal Navy had di ...

alongside

Fred Bramley Fred Bramley (27 September 1874 – 10 October 1925) was the second General Secretary of the British Trade Union Congress (TUC). Born in Pool near Otley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Bramley completed an apprenticeship as a cabinet-maker, the ...

and H. S. Lindsay. In 1931, Middleton remained with the Labour Party when MacDonald left to form the

National Labour Organisation The National Labour Organisation, also known as the National Labour Committee or simply as National Labour, was a British political group formed after the 1931 creation of the National Government to co-ordinate the efforts of the supporters of ...

, although he stated that he was in awe at MacDonald's heroism over this move. In 1935, Middleton succeeded

Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of th ...

as General Secretary of the Labour Party. In this role, he opposed proposals to form a

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

and worked to sideline all critics of the official party line. In 1936, Middleton married his second wife, the former Lucy Cox. In 1944, having been increasingly seen as ineffective, Middleton retired as General Secretary of the Labour Party. Starting with the 1945 general election, Middleton acted as

Lucy Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Lu ...

election agent An election agent in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some other similar political systems such as elections in India, is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is ...

, when she was the successful Labour candidate in

Plymouth Sutton Plymouth, Sutton was, from 1918 until 2010, a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. History Pl ...

. He continued this role until her last contest in the 1955 general election.

Legacy

News of Middleton's retirement brought tributes from various prominent figures in the Labour movement including

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

and

Robert Blatchford Robert Peel Glanville Blatchford (17 March 1851 – 17 December 1943) was an English socialist campaigner, journalist, and author in the United Kingdom. He was also noted as a prominent atheist, nationalist and opponent of eugenics. In the early ...

. In retirement, Middleton focussed on writing biographical sketches and obituaries of early Labour Party figures. The Labour History Archive and Study Centre at the

People's History Museum The People's History Museum (the National Museum of Labour History until 2001) in Manchester, England, is the UK's national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of working people ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

has the papers of the War Emergency Workers' National Committee in their collection, as well as Middleton's General Secretary papers.

References

External links

Labour History Archive and Study Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, James 1878 births 1962 deaths English male journalists Labour Party (UK) officials Members of the Fabian Society People from Bassetlaw District English male non-fiction writers

Biography

Legacy

See also

References

External links