Stephen Michael Alan Haseler (9 January 1942 – 20 July 2017)
[ ] was a British academic and advocate for a
British Republic. He was a Professor of Government, author of many books on contemporary politics and economics.
Personal life and education
Born in
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
, Essex, Haseler attended
Westcliff High School for Boys
Westcliff High School for Boys (WHSB) is an 11–18 selective academy grammar school for boys in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England. In September 2001 the school was awarded ‘Beacon’ status for its breadth of achievements and quality of work. T ...
, Southend, and then
University College, London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
and the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
(LSE). He was awarded a BSc(Econ.) in 1963 and a PhD in 1967 for his thesis on Revisionism in the British Labour Party during the post-war period.
Haseler married (Roberta) Bay Haseler from New York in 1967, and they lived together in London and Washington DC.
Political involvement
Haseler had a long record of political involvement in Britain, having stood for election to the
British Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...
for the
Labour Party in
Saffron Walden
Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...
at the
1966 general election, when he was the youngest candidate in the country, and in the
1970 general election for the
Maldon
Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...
constituency. He was elected to the
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
for the Wood Green division in 1973, where he was appointed chairman of the General Purposes Committee.
In June 1975 he became a founder and joint secretary of the
Social Democratic Alliance
The Social Democratic Alliance ( is, Samfylkingin - jafnaðarflokkur Íslands), officially The Alliance – Iceland's Social Democratic Party, is a social democratic, and pro-European political party in Iceland.
The Social Democratic Alliance wa ...
(SDA), a grassroots organisation established on the right of the party to combat "entryism" by extra-parliamentary Marxist and Trotskyist organisations, such as
Militant
The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...
and the
International Socialists. Although the new group was supported by the Cabinet minister
Reg Prentice
Reginald Ernest Prentice, Baron Prentice, PC (16 July 1923 – 18 January 2001) was a British politician who held ministerial office in both Labour and Conservative Party governments. He was the most senior Labour figure ever to defect to the ...
, who declared that he would speak in its support on "any platform", the decision to criticise mainstream Labour politicians and trade unionists - including
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Labour Leader from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on ''Tribune'' and the ''Evening Standard''. He co-wrote the 1940 p ...
and the railwaymen's leader
Sid Weighell - for writing opinion pieces in Communist-backed newspapers did not go down well.
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
, speaking at the party conference that year, attacked the SDA as an "anti-party group which has been disporting itself in Blackpool this weekend, leaking… their smears to an ever-ready Tory press."
Haseler was expelled from the Labour Party in 1980, after the NEC decided by a majority of 23 to 2 that membership of the group was incompatible with party values. He went on to become a founder member of the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
(SDP) the following year, and in 1982 stood to become the party's president, but took last place with 14.8% of the vote.
He later became co-chair of the Radical Society (1988–96) and Chair of the pressure group
Republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
(1990–2004) and honorary chair from 2004-2007. He was on the
Pro-Euro Conservative Party
The Pro-Euro Conservative Party was a British political party announced by John Stevens and Brendan Donnelly in February 1999, formed to contest the 1999 European Parliament election. The founders were Members of the European Parliament who had ...
list for the
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
constituency in the
1999 European Parliament elections.
Although initially an opponent of Britain's membership of the
European Economic Community
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 Lisb ...
(as it was then), he later became a staunch European federalist who believed that the only credible future for the UK is in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, and that the only viable future for the peoples of Europe lies in a United States of Europe.
Academic interests
His specialisms were British politics, the UK Constitution, Transatlantic relations and European defence. However, following the publication of his book ''The Super-Rich'' (Macmillan 2001), he wrote and lectured on the Global Financial Crisis and Global Politics and rising economic inequality. Haseler was also an authority on the
British monarchy
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...
and as an advocate of radical constitutional change, including a written constitution and a republican form of government. He regularly appeared on national television and radio in the UK and wrote for national newspapers on these subjects. He served on the board of
The American International University in London, and was a senior fellow at the Federal Trust.
Formerly the director of The Global Policy Institute based at London Metropolitan University, he held visiting professorships at
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
,
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
,
George Mason University
George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...
and the
University of Maryland-Baltimore County. He was an
emeritus professor
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
at
London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London (formerly the Polytechnic of North London) and London Guildhall University (f ...
.
Publications
Haseler published extensively, including ''The Gaitskellites'' (Macmillan, 1969), ''The Death of British Democracy'' (Elek, 1976), ''The Tragedy of Labour'' (Blackwells, Oxford, 1981), ''The Battle for Britain: Thatcher and the New Liberals'' (
I.B. Tauris
I.B. Tauris is an educational publishing house and imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. It was an independent publishing house with offices in London and New York City until its purchase in May 2018 by Bloomsbury Publishing.
It specialises in non ...
, 1989), ''The End of the House of Windsor'' (I.B. Tauris, 1993), ''The English Tribe: Identity, Nation and the New Europe'' (Macmillan, 1996), ''The Super-Rich: The Unjust World of Global Capital'' (Macmillan, 2001), ''Super-State – The New Europe and the Challenge to America'' (I.B. Tauris, 2004), ''Sidekick: British Global Strategy From Churchill To Blair'' (Forum Press, 2006, ''Meltdown: How The Masters of the Universe Destroyed The West's Power and Prosperity'' (Forum Press, 2008) and ''Meltdown UK'' (Forum Press, 2010). His book, ''Grand Delusion: Britain in the Age of Elizabeth II'' (IB Tauris, 2012), was written to coincide with the
Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II
The year 2012 marked the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II being the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. The only diamond jubilee celebration for any of Elizabeth's predecessors was in 1897, for the 60th an ...
.
References
External links
The Global Policy Institute at London Metropolitan UniversityStephen Haselerat London Metropolitan University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haseler, Stephen
1942 births
2017 deaths
British republicans
Georgetown University faculty
Academics of London Metropolitan University
Labour Party (UK) councillors
Members of the Greater London Council
Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians
Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates