Thomas Henry Burlison, Baron Burlison, DL (23 May 1936 – 20 May 2008) was a British

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, GMB

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 ...

ist and Treasurer of the Labour Party. He was the first professional footballer to take a seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

. Burlison was born in

Edmondsley Edmondsley is a small village in County Durham, England. It is situated a few miles south-west of Chester-le-Street, near the villages of Craghead Craghead is a former mining village in County Durham, England. It is located at the bottom of ...

, County Durham, the son of a miner, Robert Burlison, and his wife, Georgina. He was educated in Edmondsley and worked as a

panel beater Panel beater or panelbeater is a term used in some Commonwealth countries to describe a person who repairs vehicle bodies back to their factory state after having been damaged (e.g., after being involved in a collision). In the United States an ...

from 1951 to 1957, joining the

General and Municipal Workers' Union The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 460,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National Health Service (N ...

(GMWU, later merged to form the GMB).

Professional football

He was a professional

from 1953 to 1965 (playing for Lincoln City,

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

and Darlington). Between 1959 and 1961 he did

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

GMWU/GMB trade union

He became a regional officer of the GMB in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

in 1965, and regional secretary in 1978. A polite and unassuming man with a low profile, he was an effective "fixer" behind the scenes, drawing from a base in the union's heartland in the northeast and setting many on the path to power. His staff included former Labour ministers

Nick Brown Nicholas Hugh Brown (born 13 June 1950) is a British Independent politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne East since 1983, making him the fifth longest serving MP in the House of Commons. He is the longest ...

and Doug Henderson, and former MEP and Labour leader in the European parliament

Alan Donnelly Alan Donnelly (born 16 July 1957) is a British Labour Party politician and former trade unionist from Jarrow. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and as leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party. Donnelly was first el ...

. He was also involved in the selection of many Labour MPs, including

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

and

Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson (born 21 October 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as First Secretary of State from 2009 to 2010. He was President of the Board of Trade in 1998 and from 2008 to 2010. He is the ...

. He was involved in the negotiations in 1982 to merge the GMWU with the Boilermakers to form the General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trades Union. He was runner-up behind John Edmonds in the election for general secretary of the GMB in 1985. The GMB merged with

APEX The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex, ...

in 1989 for form the

GMB Union The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 460,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National Health Service (N ...

, and Burlison served as deputy general secretary of the merged union from 1991 to 1996.

Labour Party

He was also treasurer of the Labour Party from 1992 to 1996. He was chairman of the TUC northern region for nine years. He was also a trustee of the

Board of Governors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

of the

University of Northumbria , mottoeng = A lifetime of learning , established = 1877 - Rutherford College of Technology1969 - Newcastle Polytechnic1992 - gained university status , type = Public , budget = � ...

, a Deputy Lieutenant and Honorary President of

. He was an important moderniser on Labour's

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

in the years before the party's landslide victory at the 1997 general election.

Baron Burlison

On 21 October 1997, he was created a life peer as Baron Burlison, ''of

Rowlands Gill Rowlands Gill is a town situated along the A694, between Winlaton Mill and Hamsterley Mill, on the north bank of the River Derwent, in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Within Gateshead's greenbelt, the town has a ...

, in the County of Tyne and Wear''. He was a

working peer 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 ...

, and was a

Lord in Waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (withou ...

(a Government whip in the House of Lords) from 1999 to 2001. Burlison married Valerie Stephenson in 1981. They had one son and one daughter. Burlison lived in

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...

, for at least 20 years. He died in Gateshead on 20 May 2008 at the age of 71.

References

*
Obituary: ''The Independent'', 23 May 2008Obituary: ''The Guardian'', 11 June 2008Obituary: ''The Times'', 20 June 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burlison, Thomas 1936 births 2008 deaths People from County Durham Footballers from County Durham People from Rowlands Gill Politicians from Tyne and Wear Footballers from Tyne and Wear Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Deputy Lieutenants of Tyne and Wear English footballers Lincoln City F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Darlington F.C. players English trade unionists Labour Party (UK) officials British sportsperson-politicians Association football wing halves