Anthony Philip John "Tony" Chater (21 December 1929 – 2 August 2016) was a British

newspaper editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

and

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

activist.

Early life

Born in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, Chater attended Northampton Town and County Grammar School, and joined the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

(CPGB) whilst in the sixth form. Chater then studied at

Queen Mary, University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

in London, gaining a first (BSc, 1951) and a PhD in chemistry in 1954. After a two years post-doctoral research fellowship at the Dominion Experimental Farm, Canada, and a year at Brussels University studying biochemistry, he returned to Britain to teach, initially at Northampton Technical High School, later Blyth Grammar School, Norwich, and from 1960 at the Luton College of Technology where he remained until 1969.Graham Stevenson,
Chater Tony
, ''Compendium of Communist Biographies'' He stood in the

1963 Luton by-election The 1963 Luton by-election was held on 7 November 1963 following the resignation of the former "radio doctor" and Conservative Minister Charles Hill. Hill had a majority of over 5,000 at the 1959 general election, but the Luton seat was won by ...

as a CPGB candidate, but was placed last gaining only 593 votes. Despite this, he stood in

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

again in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, again without success.

''Morning Star''

After being the Chair of the Communist Party of Great Britain during 1968–69, Chater began working full-time for the party as its head of press and publicity, and in 1974 he swapped jobs with George Matthews becoming editor of the ''

Morning Star Morning Star, morning star, or Morningstar may refer to: Astronomy * Morning star, most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise ** See also Venus in culture * Morning star, a name for the star Siri ...

'', a daily paper associated with the party. He attempted to get the party executive to prioritise increasing sales, with limited success. The paper, run by the

People's Press Printing Society The People's Press Printing Society (PPPS) is a readers' co-operative with the purpose of owning and publishing a left-wing, British, daily newspaper. The co-operative was established in 1945, with shares sold at £1. Originally the paper was title ...

, and the party were coming into open conflict by 1982, disagreeing on approaches to the

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

s' movement. The following year, the revisionist party leadership attempted to remove Chater's supporters from the executive of the PPPS, but the reverse occurred, and Chater's opponents were defeated instead. Chater, however, was expelled from the CPGB in January 1985. An opposition coalesced around Chater and Mick Costello, but they were defeated at the 1987 Party Congress and subsequently founded the

Communist Party of Britain The Communist Party of Britain (CPB) is a communist party in Great Britain which emerged from a dispute between Eurocommunists and Marxist-Leninists in the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1988. It follows Marxist-Leninist theory and s ...

.Peter Barberis et al, ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations'', pp. 144–145 Chater stood down as editor of the ''Morning Star'' in 1995. He died on 2 August 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chater, Tony 1930 births 2016 deaths Alumni of Queen Mary University of London Communist Party of Britain members Communist Party of Great Britain members English newspaper editors English male journalists People educated at Northampton School for Boys Morning Star (British newspaper) journalists British political party founders