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

to 2001 he was a backbencher

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 o ...

(MP) in the

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Early life

He is a nephew of the former

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 ...

leader and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

conscientious objector,

James Maxton James Maxton (22 June 1885 – 23 July 1946) was a British left-wing politician, and leader of the Independent Labour Party. He was a pacifist who opposed both world wars. A prominent proponent of Home Rule for Scotland, he is remembered as on ...

. His father, also named John Maxton, was also a conscientious objector 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 Thame is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of the city of Oxford and southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the county border wi ...

, and subsequently attended

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

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 The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

. He was selected to oppose the sitting MP, the

Shadow A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, ...

Secretary of State for Scotland,

Teddy Taylor Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor (18 April 1937 – 20 September 2017) was a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for forty years, from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 to 2005 for Southend Eas ...

, 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, which drove some of its

voters Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holder ...

back to Labour. Maxton was the only Labour candidate at that election to gain a seat won by the

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 ...

at the previous general election. In Parliament, he allied with the left in the

Tribune Group ''Tribune'' is a democratic socialist political magazine founded in 1937 and published in London, initially as a newspaper, then converting to a magazine in 2001. While it is independent, it has usually supported the Labour Party from the left ...

, and voted against the Falklands War. 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. 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 in 1985 and a spokesman on

Scottish Affairs ''Scottish Affairs'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering Scottish politics. It was established in 1992 and has been published by Edinburgh University Press since 2014. It is the successor to the ''Scottish Government Yearbooks'', whic ...

from 1985 to 1992. He stood down from the

at the 2001 general election and was given a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages A ...

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