James Edward Mortimer (12 January 1921 – 23 April 2013) was a British trade unionist and the Labour Party

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

between 1982 and 1985.Obituary: Jim Mortimer
telegraph.co.uk, 24 April 2013

Early life and career

Mortimer's early career was in the shipbuilding and engineering industries where he worked as a ship fitter apprentice, a machinist and a planning engineer. He studied as a TUC Scholar at

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) ...

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in 1945 and 1946 and worked at the TUC Economic Department from 1946 to 1948. He was a trade union member of the

National Board for Prices and Incomes The National Board for Prices and Incomes was created by the government of Harold Wilson in 1965 in an attempt to solve the problem of inflation in the British economy by managing wages and prices. The board's chairman was Aubrey Jones, formerly ...

between 1968 and 1971, and at the same time he was the Director of the London Co-operative Society. From 1971 to 1974, he was a member of the Board of London Transport Executive. He had been a national official of the

Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen The Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS) was a British trade union. History The union was founded in 1913 by 200 draughtsmen, as the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen (AESD). It expanded rapidly, and ...

. He was the first Chairman of

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 ...

from 1974 until 1981.

General Secretary of the Labour Party

Mortimer was General Secretary of the Labour Party between 1982 and 1985, a time of great turmoil in the Labour Party with the formation of the breakaway SDP and the rise of the

Militant tendency , native_name_lang = cy , logo = , colorcode = , leader = collective leadership(''Militant'' editorial board) , leader1_name = Ted Grant , leader1_title = Political Secretary , leader2_name = Pet ...

. During the 1983 general election campaign, at the daily press conference on 26 May, Mortimer announced that "The unanimous view of the campaign committee is that

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 ...

is the leader of the Labour Party and speaks for the Party".JE Mortimer "A Life on the Left" page 385 It later emerged that Foot's leadership had not been discussed, but created an impression that Foot needed a vote of confidence to continue. The press claimed this as an 'own goal'. Mortimer wrote about this in his autobiography "I do not regret, that at a time when there was an effort to undermine the leadership of Michael Foot, I made it clear that this effort found no sympathy in Walworth Road. 'Own Goals' are more often than not the invention of journalistic chatter.". He played an important role in the miners' strike of 1984 and 1985, throwing himself into support for the miners and being given honorary membership of the NUM in recognition of his efforts.

Personal life

He wrote several books, including a three volume history of the boilermakers' union and an autobiography "A Life on the Left". He had three children with Renee - his first wife. Hugh (1943),Jamie (1947) and Diana (1955)

References

*J. E. Mortimer, A Life on the Left, (Lewes, 1998).

External links

Jim Mortimer: Union official and Labour's General Secretary during hard times for the Party

Jim MortimerCatalogue of Mortimer's papers
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortimer, Jim 1921 births 2013 deaths Alumni of Ruskin College British trade unionists Labour Party (UK) officials