Marc Wadsworth

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Marc Wadsworth is a British black rights campaigner, broadcast and print journalist and

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filmmaker. He founded the

Anti-Racist Alliance The Anti-Racist Alliance (ARA) was a British anti-racist organisation formed in November 1991. It was formed mainly by black activists in the Labour Party. Context and formation In the early 1990s, the far right, in particular the British Natio ...

in 1991 and helped set up the justice campaign for murdered black teenager

Stephen Lawrence Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

two years later. Wadsworth launched an early citizen-journalism news portal, The-Latest.com. In 2008 Wadsworth's reporting triggered the resignation of Mayor of London

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

's spokesman. In 2018 Wadsworth was expelled from the Labour Party for bringing the party into disrepute. This decision related to a confrontation on 30 June 2016 between him and Labour MP

Ruth Smeeth Ruth Lauren Smeeth, Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (''née'' Anderson; born 29 June 1979) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke-on-Trent North from 2015 until 2019. Since 2022 she has been ...

at the launch of the

Chakrabarti Inquiry The Chakrabarti Inquiry was a 2016 investigation into allegations of antisemitism and other forms of racism in the United Kingdom's Labour Party. Chaired by barrister Shami Chakrabarti, the inquiry was launched following comments made by two hi ...

report into allegations of

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and other forms of racism in the Labour Party.

Early life

Wadsworth's father, George "Busha" Rowe, emigrated to Britain from

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

in 1944 to serve as ground crew 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) and ...

in World War II. Rowe went back to Jamaica in 1946, returning to Britain on the SS ''Empire Windrush'' two years later. Wadsworth's mother is

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England, Wadsworth spent his first six years in a children's home and was then in foster care for a further year. He recalls being the only black student at

Ottershaw School Ottershaw School was founded in 1948 as an English school for boys in Ottershaw Park, Ottershaw, approximately southwest of London between Chertsey and Woking, Surrey, south of England, on an estate that dated back to 1761, when the first house ...

, a boys' boarding school in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. Initially bullied, he took up amateur boxing at 13, inspired by

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

, whose politics he would later describe as Black Pride and Black Power.

Career

Activism

Wadsworth helped to secure Black Sections (caucuses) within the Labour Party, first tabled in 1983, to further the cause of greater African, Caribbean and Asian political representation. All four of Britain's first minority African, Caribbean and Asian members of parliament of modern times were members.Andrew Hosken, ''Ken: The Ups and Downs of Ken Livingstone'', Arcadia Books, 10 April 2008: Chapter 18: 1985–1994. Ken and the rise of Socialist Action, 1985–1994, pp. 265–67. He then co-founded the

(ARA) in 1991, to campaign for justice after the 1993

murder of Stephen Lawrence Stephen Lawrence (13 September 1974 – 22 April 1993) was a black British teenager from Plumstead, southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall Road, Eltham on the evening of 22 Apri ...

. The ARA succeeded in getting human rights lawyer

Geoffrey Bindman Sir Geoffrey Lionel Bindman KC (Hon) (born 3 January 1933) is a British solicitor specialising in human rights law, and founder of the human rights law firm Bindman & Partners. He has been Chair of the British Institute of Human Rights sinc ...

to draft a bill to make racial harassment and racial violence specific criminal offences, which proposals became law years later.Marc Wadswort
"A long, hard fight for justice"
''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'', 5 January 2012. Wadsworth lost his position as ARA leader in 1994 following disputes with Socialist Action and

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...

Media and academia

In January 2006, Wadsworth became founding editor of The-Latest.com, "Britain's first dedicated citizen journalism news portal". In 2008, an article by Wadsworth on The-Latest.com sparked a controversy involving newly elected London mayor

. Johnson's Australian spin doctor James McGrath said to Wadsworth in an interview that he would be fine if many elderly

British African-Caribbean British African-Caribbean people are an ethnic group in the United Kingdom. They are British citizens whose ancestry originates from the Caribbean or they are nationals of the Caribbean who reside in the UK. There are some self-identified Afro-C ...

Londoners left the country due to Johnson's policies. Wadsworth published the interview with McGrath on The-Latest.com. McGrath then resigned when Johnson, who was facing criticism for previously referring to black people as "piccaninnies", said it was impossible for McGrath to continue as his political adviser because doubt could be raised about what he meant. Wadsworth said he had he had given McGrath a month to privately clarify his comments prior to publishing the interview. The ''

Press Gazette ''Press Gazette'', formerly known as ''UK Press Gazette'' (UKPG), is a British media trade magazine dedicated to journalism and the press. First published in 1965, it had a circulation of about 2,500, before becoming online-only in 2013. Publis ...

'' reported on the controversy under the headline "Citizen journalism takes first UK scalp". As a journalist, Wadsworth has written for a range of publications, including national newspapers, and has also been involved with community journalism training courses. He twice served on the National Executive Council of the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Structure There is ...

. His book, ''Comrade Sak'', a political biography of British Indian Labour and Communist MP

Shapurji Saklatvala Shapurji Dorabji Saklatvala (28 March 1874 – 16 January 1936) was a communist activist and British politician of Indian Parsi heritage. Saklatvala is notable for being the first person of Indian heritage to become a British Member of Parliamen ...

(1874–1936), was published in 1998 by

Peepal Tree Press Peepal Tree Press is a publisher based in Leeds, England which publishes Caribbean, Black British, and South Asian fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and academic books. It was founded after a paper shortage in Guyana halted production of new bo ...

. A new edition of the book was published in 2020. It was reviewed in a number of news outlets in the UK and India, including ''The Independent''

Wadsworth has been a reporter and presenter for BBC radio and television and for ITV's ''

Thames News ''Thames News'' was the flagship regional news programme of Thames Television, serving the Thames ITV region and broadcast on weekdays from 12 September 1977 to 31 December 1992. The news service was produced and broadcast from Thames TV's headq ...

'' (London), at one point interviewing

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

, whom he recalls walked out when he asked about the vote by her colleagues to effectively oust her from power. From 2001 to 2012, Wadsworth was a lecturer in journalism at

City University London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

.Marc Wadsworth author page
at

. In 2012, he was awarded an M.A. in Contemporary British History from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, passing with distinction. Wadsworth made a documentary film, ''Divided by Race, United in War and Peace'', about his late father's fellow Caribbean war veterans and their struggles against colour prejudice and racism. It was a project of The-Latest.com. The BBC remade the film, with Wadsworth as a producer, and, in May 2015, ''Fighting for King and Empire: Britain’s Caribbean Heroes'' was broadcast. The film was shown at the

Frontline Club The Frontline Club is a media club and registered charity located near Paddington Station in London. With a strong emphasis on conflict reporting, it aims to champion independent journalism, provide an effective platform from which to support div ...

in September 2015. In November 2016, the film was repeated by the BBC during

Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...

week. It has been shown every year since, most recently in October 2020. In March 2016, The-Latest.com identified Wadsworth as a committee member of "Black Momentum" also known as "Momentum Black ConneXions" (MBC), in reference to the pro-Corbyn campaign group

Momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass an ...

Comment about Labour MP and expulsion from Labour Party

On 30 June 2016, Wadsworth attended the launch of the report of the

into allegations of

anti-semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and racism in the Labour Party. His group, Momentum Black Connexions, had made a submission to the Inquiry. Wadsworth was also handing out their

press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

to journalists, about under-representation of Black people in the party and about challenging Labour MPs hostile to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. He gave one of the leaflets to Kate McCann, a journalist from ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' newspaper. McCann then handed his press release to someone else. Wadsworth says he asked if she was press and she said no; he asked who she was and she said "

Labour MP" – a name he claimed he did not recognise. Wadsworth says he felt her tone was hostile, and that there was "a bit of a commotion", and that as someone with experience of feeling "surrounded by hostile white people", he retreated to the back of the hall. McCann asked a public question to Corbyn about a "Momentum member" handing out a "leaflet" calling for the deselection of anti-Corbyn MPs, accusing him of taking down the name of one Labour MP. Later Wadsworth, while making a point about the under-representation of non-white racial groups at the launch and in the party, responded to McCann by saying he saw ''The Telegraph'' journalist handing a copy of his press release to Labour MP

and thus claimed to have seen who was "working hand in hand". Wadsworth says he had felt suspicious of Smeeth politically because of "right-wing journalist McCann" passing her his press release, in what he perceived as a friendly way. A review by the Media Reform Coalition noted that such political concerns were widespread and Wadsworth's comments seemed to be of that type, though often misreported. At least one person in the audience heckled, including "how dare you". Journalist Kevin Schofield, ex senior correspondent at '' The Sun'' tabloid, muttered towards Smeeth that it is antisemitism at an antisemitism inquiry. Smeeth walked out, followed by McCann. Later that day Smeeth published an accusation that Wadsworth had verbally attacked her by using a traditional antisemitic slur to accuse her of a media conspiracy, though did not specify the slur or the conspiracy. She wrote that: "it is beyond belief that someone could come to the launch of a report on antisemitism in the Labour Party and espouse such vile conspiracy theories about Jewish people, which were ironically highlighted as such in Ms Chakrabarti's report, while the leader of my own party stood by and did absolutely nothing. People like this have no place in our party or our movement and must be opposed". Wadsworth responded on the radio that he did not know Smeeth was Jewish.Chambre, Agnes (1 July 2016)
"Ruth Smeeth heckler expelled from Labour party"
PoliticsHome. He said he regretted that Smeeth felt offended but that he had been expelled from the Labour Party based solely on media reports. At the time of his expulsion, he had been a member of the Labour Party for one month, having resigned his membership in 2003. After receiving a letter from Wadsworth's lawyer,

Harriet Wistrich Harriet Katherine Wistrich (born 1960) is an English solicitor and radical feminist who specialises in human-rights cases, particularly cases involving women who have been sexually assaulted or who have killed their violent partners.Gupta, Rahi ...

, Labour changed this to a suspension. On 4 July, Corbyn was asked about Wadsworth in a Parliamentary Select Committee hearing, and called Wadsworth's comments about Smeeth wrong and inappropriate but refused to declare them racist or anti-semitic without clarifying the details. On 7 July, ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'' reported quotes from an interview with Chakrabarti indicating she thought Wadsworth had engaged in the kind of behaviour that the Inquiry report was needed to address, and that she had admonished him for this at the time. Wadsworth says she never told him she thought he was being antisemitic. On 8 July, the

announced that Wadsworth had been elected as chairman of its Black Members Council (BMC), adding that the BMC fully supported him after the media had "slanderously accused him of anti-semitism". At the first day's hearing by the National Constitutional Committee (NCC) into Wadsworth's future in the Labour Party on 25 April 2018, around 40 Labour MPs and peers accompanied Smeeth, while there was a small group of protestors with pro-Wadsworth placards. The Labour MPs Chris Williamson (who afterwards alleged the evidence had been twisted) and Clive Lewis (who alleged afterwards that there was racism against Wadsworth) were witnesses for Wadsworth. On 27 April 2018, the National Constitutional Committee found that two charges of a breach of s.2.1.8 (prejudical and detrimental conduct) of the Labour Party Rule Book by Wadsworth were proven. The NCC determined that the sanction for this breach of party rules would be expulsion from membership of the Labour Party. His expulsion was welcomed by the

Jewish Labour Movement {{Infobox organization , name = Jewish Labour Movement , pronounce = , nickname = , named_after = , logo = JewishLabourMovementLogo.png , image_border = , size ...

and the president of the

Board of Deputies of British Jews The Board of Deputies of British Jews, commonly referred to as the Board of Deputies, is the largest and second oldest Jewish communal organisation in the United Kingdom, after only the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established ...

. Two days later,

Jewish Voice for Labour Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) is an organisation formed in 2017 for Jewish members of the UK Labour Party. Its aims include a commitment "to strengthen the party in its opposition to all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism... to uphold th ...

, calling Wadsworth a "leading Black antiracist activist", welcomed him to their Annual General Meeting and passed a resolution that he should be reinstated. In February 2019, after party officials refused to speak to him further, Wadsworth began legal action against the Labour Party for race discrimination against him under the

Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act 2010 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during the Brown ministry with the primary purpose of consolidating, updating and supplementing the numerous prior Acts and Regulations, that formed the basis of anti-d ...

and for breach of contract. It was reported later that this action had been dropped because the Labour Party would not have been bound by any court decision and, if Wadsworth had lost, the costs would have been ruinous for him. In a BBC ''

Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

'' "leaders special" shortly before the 2019 general election, an audience member, later identified as South African "Tory activist" in Hull called Ryan Jacobs, singled out the footage of Wadsworth while accusing Corbyn of a disgraceful and terrifying lack of support for Jewish women, claiming it showed Smeeth leaving in tears. Wadsworth had been taking action against news publishers for claiming he'd heckled or abused Smeeth, including ''The Jewish Chronicle'' which added caveats to several stories after intervention by the

Independent Press Standards Organisation The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) is the regulator of the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK. It was established on 8 September 2014 after the windup of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), which had been the main ind ...

. Wadsworth said "It’s affected me, my health, family and friends in a terrible way. I’ve faced awful racist abuse on social media and been threatened on public transport." In March 2021, ''

'' falsely stated that Wadsworth was part of a group allegedly planning to locate and intimidate Jewish Labour members, printing a prominent picture of Wadsworth. Wadsworth sued for defamation in the article, which ''The Jewish Chronicle'' accepted was wholly untrue. The judge stated "This was a serious mistake for ''the Jewish Chronicle'' to have made", and the ''Chronicle'' published an apology for their error and agreed to pay damages and costs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadsworth, Marc 1955 births Living people Alumni of King's College London English people of Jamaican descent English people of Finnish descent English political commentators Citizen journalists British anti-racism activists Activist journalists British opinion journalists English social commentators Academics of City, University of London English broadcasters English documentary filmmakers English non-fiction writers English activists 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers Labour Party (UK) people Black British activists People from Birmingham, West Midlands Black British writers Politicians affected by a party expulsion process