John Leaf McNair (6 October 1887 – 18 February 1968) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. McNair was born in

Boston, Lincolnshire Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Boston is north of London, north-east of Peterborough, east of Nottingham, south-east of Lincoln, south-southeast of Hul ...

, but moved to

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...

at an early age. He left school when he was thirteen, working as an errand boy.John McNair and Don Bateman, ''Spanish Diary'', p.1 He joined the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

(ILP), and was involved in

Victor Grayson Albert Victor Grayson (born 5 September 1881, disappeared 28 September 1920) was an English socialist politician of the early 20th century. An Independent Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1907 to 1910, Grayson is most notable for his sensat ...

's election campaigns in 1910, on one occasion having to fill for an entire evening when Grayson failed to arrive. In 1911, he moved to

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

, in an attempt to find regular employment, but his political activity made this difficult, and so, later in the year, he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where he lived and worked until 1923.McNAIR, John
, ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'' He worked as the London Organising Secretary for the ILP during the 1924 general election, but felt that this had harmed his health, and he returned to Paris, where he worked for the next twelve years.John McNair and Don Bateman, ''Spanish Diary'', p.3 In 1936, McNair again returned to the UK, and was appointed as the ILP's national Organising Secretary and international representative. In this post, he travelled to Spain with John McGovern, in order to investigate the role of the Catholic Church in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. When McGovern returned to Scotland, McNair remained in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, running the ILP's political office, and making arrangements for the arrival of British volunteers to fight with the

POUM The Workers' Party of Marxist Unification ( es, Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista, POUM; ca, Partit Obrer d'Unificació Marxista) was a Spanish communist party formed during the Second Republic and mainly active around the Spanish Civil ...

; these included George Orwell, whom McNair met on Orwell's arrival. Following the suppression of the POUM during the Barcelona May Days, he fled Spain with Orwell and two others. McNair was elected as General Secretary of the ILP in 1939, in which capacity he evacuated the party offices to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. While holding the post, he stood in the

1943 Bristol Central by-election The 1943 Bristol Central by-election was a by-election held on 18 February 1943 for the British House of Commons constituency of Bristol Central in the city of Bristol. The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Conservative Member of ...

, taking 7.3% of the vote, and wrote an official biography of

James Maxton James Maxton (22 June 1885 – 23 July 1946) was a British left-wing politician, and leader of the Independent Labour Party. He was a pacifist who opposed both world wars. A prominent proponent of Home Rule for Scotland, he is remembered as on ...

, entitled ''The Beloved Rebel''. In 1955, McNair retired from the General Secretaryship, and returned to Tyneside, when he completed a degree at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

in French and English history, and Greek and Roman culture. Aged 72, he followed this with an MA, his thesis being on the work of Orwell.''

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official prin ...

'', 6 March 1968

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcnair, John 1887 births 1968 deaths Alumni of Durham University British people of the Spanish Civil War Independent Labour Party politicians People from Boston, Lincolnshire