Thomas Leslie Littlewood (1906 – 22 December 1989) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 and political activist. Littlewood grew up in

Kingston-upon-Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east o ...

and won a bursary to

Hull Grammar School Hull Grammar School was a secondary school in Hull, England, founded around 1330 and endowed in 1479 by the prelate John Alcock. In 1988, as part of a restructure by the Local Education Authority, the site was renamed William Gee School. Meanw ...

, although he had to leave at the age of fifteen to support his family. He became active in the trade union movement, while also serving on the Education Committee of

Hull City Council (Kingston upon) Hull City Council is the governing body for the unitary authority and city of Kingston upon Hull. It was created in 1972 as the successor to the Corporation of (Kingston upon) Hull, which was also known as Hull Corporation and fou ...

and volunteering for the

Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

. He won a bursary to the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, completing a part-time degree in economics. Littlewood decided to pursue a career as a full-time trade union official, and was selected from more than 400 applicants for the post of Deputy General Secretary of 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 ...

. In 1946, he was selected as the new General Secretary of the BBC Staff Association. He took the association on an independent course, enabling it to register as an independent trade union under the name

Association of Broadcasting Staff The Association of Broadcasting and Allied Staffs (ABS) was a British broadcasting trade union. The organisation was founded in 1945 with the merger of the BBC Staff (Wartime) Association and the Association of BBC Engineers to form the BBC St ...

(ABS) in 1956, and took it into 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 ...

(TUC) in 1963."Report of the 1990 Annual Trades Union Congress'', p.245 Littlewood was also active in the Labour Party, and he stood in

Harrow West Harrow West is a Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency in Greater London created in 1945 and represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK P ...

at the

1950 United Kingdom general election The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first ever to be held after a full term of Labour government. The election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950, and was the first held following the abolition of plural voting and university con ...

, taking 29.5% of the vote and second place. He stood again at the

1951 Harrow West by-election The 1951 Harrow West by-election, was held on 21 April 1951 when the incumbent Conservative MP Norman Bower resigned. The seat was retained by the Conservative candidate Albert Braithwaite Sir Albert Newby Braithwaite (2 September 1893 – ...

, and in the

1951 United Kingdom general election The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held twenty months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats. The Labour government called a snap election for Thursday 25 October 1951 ...

, each time achieving a similar result.

F. W. S. Craig Frederick Walter Scott Craig (10 December 1929 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compilin ...

, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1950–1970'' In 1968, Littlewood stood down as general secretary and instead become President of the ABS. That year, he was also elected to the

General Council of the TUC The General Council of the Trades Union Congress is an elected body which is responsible for carrying out the policies agreed at the annual British Trade Union Congresses (TUC). Organisation The council has 56 members, all of whom must be proposed ...

, serving until his retirement in 1971.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littlewood, Leslie 1906 births 1989 deaths Alumni of the University of London Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates British trade union leaders Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress People educated at Hull Grammar School Trade unionists from Kingston upon Hull