Anthony Mulhearn (24 January 1939 – 7 October 2019) was a British political and trade union campaigner known for being a prominent member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

and its predecessor, the

Militant tendency The Militant tendency, or Militant, was a Trotskyism, Trotskyist group in the British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, organised around the ''Militant'' newspaper, which launched in 1964. According to Michael Crick, its politics were based on the t ...

. A native of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, Mulhearn was a member of the city council from 1984 to 1987 and also held the key role during this time of President of the District Labour Party. With

Peter Taaffe Peter Taaffe (born April 1942) is a British Marxist (Trotskyist) political activist and journalist. He was the general secretary of the Socialist Party of England and Wales from its founding until 2020 and was a member of the International Exec ...

, he co-authored a book detailing the struggle of the Liverpool city council called ''Liverpool: A City that Dared to Fight''. Mulhearn's memoirs were published as ''The Making of a Liverpool Militant''.

Early life

Mulhearn was brought up in the downtown Fontenoy Street and Leeds Street area of

Everton, Liverpool Everton is a district in Liverpool, in Merseyside, England, in the Liverpool City Council ward of Everton. It is part of the Liverpool Walton Parliamentary constituency. Historically in Lancashire, at the 2001 Census the population was record ...

, and attended Holy Cross School and Bishop Goss

Secondary Modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usually ...

"The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979", p. 86-7. before working variously as a baker, tailor, trainee ship steward, apprentice cabinet maker, printer, ship's printer with Canadian Pacific, Ford worker, taxi driver, part-time lecturer and civil servant. He joined the Labour Party in 1963 Ian Bradley, "New puritans in pursuit of power", ''The Times'', 10 December 1981, p. 12. and stood as the Labour candidate for the constituency of

Crosby Crosby may refer to: Places ;Canada *Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario *Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario ;England *Crosby, Cumbria *Crosby, Lincolnshire *Crosby, Merseyside ** Crosby (U ...

in the 1979 general election.

Municipal affairs

Mulhearn's involvement with municipal affairs began in March 1980 when he became President of the Liverpool District Labour Party, a body which was responsible for overseeing the activities of Labour councillors on Liverpool city council. In June 1981 he was selected as Labour Party candidate for Liverpool Toxteth, although due to boundary changes the constituency was abolished before the next general election. Mulhearn was elected to Liverpool city council in May 1984 from St Mary's ward.David Walker, "Conciliation: the improbable Mersey sound", ''The Times'', 29 May 1984, p. 14. Mulhearn was a leading member of the controlling group on the city council, and in 1985 played a key role in the budgeting crisis which affected the council. He led the council delegation negotiating with the unions representing council staff when the council, running out of money, decided to issue redundancy notices to its entire workforce in September 1985.Peter Davenport, "Liverpool unions walk out of talks", ''The Times'', 27 September 1985, p. 1. Mulhearn insisted that the council would succeed in getting extra funds from the Government, making the notices unnecessary; he also said that Labour Party leader

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...

had been speaking "from a position of profound ignorance" when he condemned the move.Hugh Clayton and David Felton, "Liverpool plans to lay off all staff", ''The Times'', 12 October 1985, p. 2. Shortly afterward Mulhearn stood for the Labour candidacy in Knowsley North, attempting to deselect sitting MP

Robert Kilroy-Silk Robert Michael Kilroy-Silk (born Robert Michael Silk; 19 May 1942) is an English former politician and broadcaster. After a decade as a university lecturer, he served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 1986. He left the H ...

Michael Cockerell Michael Roger Lewis Cockerell (born 26 August 1940) is a British broadcaster and journalist. He is the BBC's most established political documentary maker, with a long, Emmy award-winning career of political programmes spanning television and radi ...

, "Who will win this Merseyside showdown?", ''The Times'', 28 October 1985, p. 12. The attempt was unsuccessful but Kilroy-Silk resigned his seat the following year to move into television presenting. In 1986, Mulhearn was expelled from the Labour Party following a series of hearings which the party had begun into the involvement of

supporters. He remained a councillor until March 1987, when the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

rejected the appeals of 47 Liverpool councillors against the district auditor's finding of 'wilful misconduct' in the council's delayed setting of its budget in 1985.

Subsequent campaigning

After leaving Liverpool City Council, Mulhearn (together with

) wrote an account of the period when supporters of Militant were leading the council, published as ''Liverpool: A City that Dared to Fight'' in 1988.. He worked as a

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

driver from 1991 to 2001, and also studied part-time at

Liverpool John Moores University , mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold , established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University , type = Public , endowment = , coor ...

for a combined Social Sciences degree (including history, economics and politics). In 1996 he passed with

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

for his dissertation (on

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

), and was given the prize for "most meritorious mature student". He later worked as an IT support co-ordinator for the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, while remaining active in politics as a member of Militant's successor the

and a member of the

Campaign for a New Workers' Party Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme *Bli ...

.BNP bigots retreat under pressure
, Campaign for a New Workers' Party, accessed 22 July 2009.

Liverpool Mayor Election 2012

Mulhearn stood as a

TUSC Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is a socialist electoral alliance launched in Britain for the 2010 general election. TUSC's co-founder was the RMT union general secretary Bob Crow. Members of the PCS, NUT, FBU and POA uni ...

candidate for

Mayor of Liverpool The mayor of Liverpool is the executive mayor of the city of Liverpool in England. The incumbent mayor is Joanne Anderson, who was elected in May 2021. The mayor of Liverpool was previously branded 'the most powerful politician in England outs ...

on a "6 point programme to defend the working class of Liverpool from cuts to jobs and services". He came fifth, ahead of the Conservative Party candidate.

References

External links

Articles by Tony Mulhearn
- Socialist Party website {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulhearn, Tony 1939 births 2019 deaths Councillors in Liverpool Labour Party (UK) politicians Militant tendency supporters Politicians from Liverpool Socialist Party (England and Wales) members British taxi drivers