Martin James Smith (born October 1963) is a British political activist. He is a former National Secretary of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), a position he held from 2004 until January 2011. He is reported to have left the SWP in 2013 following accusations of the

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

of a much younger female member of the party. Smith joined the SWP in the 1980s and eventually become a member of the Central Committee. He was involved in disrupting talks at

Acas The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) is a Crown non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its purpose is to improve organisations and working life through the promotion and facilitation of strong ...

in May 2010 between

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...

and the

Unite Unite may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Unite'' (A Friend in London album), 2013 album by Danish band A Friend in London * ''Unite'' (Kool & the Gang album), 1993 * ''Unite'' (The O.C. Supertones album), 2005 Songs ...

trade union which he defended on ''

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

''. He has also been involved at a senior level in

Unite Against Fascism Unite Against Fascism (UAF) is a British anti-fascist group. Its joint secretaries are Weyman Bennett and Sabby Dhalu, formerly of the National Assembly Against Racism (NAAR). Its chair is Steve Hart of Unite the Union and its assistant secre ...

and

Love Music Hate Racism Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) is a music-oriented antiracism campaign based in Britain. The campaign aims to bring people together and promote unity through the power of music. LMHR was born in the tradition of the Rock Against Racism (RAR) movem ...

. In September 2010, he was convicted of an assault on a police officer during the protest in October 2009 against

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...

leader Nick Griffin's appearance on ''Question Time''. He was sentenced to a 12-month

community order Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

. Smith is a former Director of Sherborne Publications Limited,MR MARTIN JAMES SMITH
directorsintheuk.co.uk, 21 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014. the company that publishes the ''

Socialist Worker ''Socialist Worker'' is the name of several far-left newspapers currently or formerly associated with the International Socialist Tendency (IST). It is a weekly newspaper published by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the United Kingdom since ...

'', and of

. At the National Conference in January 2011, he left the post of National Secretary of the SWP in favour of

Charlie Kimber Charles "Charlie" Nicholas Kimber (born July 1957) is the National Secretary of the Socialist Workers Party of the United Kingdom from January 2011. Kimber has been politically active since the 1970s and went on his first protest march in 19 ...

, who remains in this position. Smith has been named as "Comrade Delta", accused of sexual assault and rape of women who were members of the SWP. According to

Alex Callinicos Alexander Theodore Callinicos (born 24 July 1950) is a Rhodesian-born British political theorist and activist. An adherent of Trotskyism, he is a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and serves as its Internatio ...

and

Dave Renton David Renton (born 1972) is a British barrister, and has represented clients in a number of high-profile cases, especially concerning trade union rights and the protection of free speech. He was for many years a member of the Socialist Workers ...

, disagreement within the party following this incident led to the resignation of 700 SWP members.

Selected publications

*''John Coltrane: Jazz, racism and resistance, the extended version.'' Redwords, 2003. *''Frank Sinatra: When ole blue eyes was a red.'' London: Bookmarks Publications, 2005. *''Why "British jobs for British workers" won't solve the crisis: Why we need jobs for all.'' London: Bookmarks Publications, 2009.

References

External links

Dream Deferred
- Martin Smith’s blog
Smith talking about "Perspectives for Trade Union Struggle Today"Smith at the Socialist Party and Socialist Workers Party debate.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Martin 1963 births Living people British people convicted of assault Socialist Workers Party (UK) members