Pat Jordan (17 July 1928 – 1 September 2001) was a British

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

who was central to founding the International Marxist Group. Jordan was born in Chelsea,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

,Cohen, S. 'Pat Jordan (1928-2001) in ''Revolutionary History'' Vol.8 No.3 pg.276 the son of an electrical engineer.Cohen, S. 'Pat Jordan (1928-2001) in ''Revolutionary History'' Vol.8 No.3 pg.276-7 On 21 October 1950 he married Leonora May Comrie, but the marriage was annulled in 1958 and she went on to marry Rodney Kay-Kreizman. Jordan was a full-time organiser in 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 CPGB ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, but he left the party with Ken Coates after the

Soviet invasion of Hungary The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

in 1956. After a brief period working with the

Socialist Review Group The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is a far-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded as the Socialist Review Group by supporters of Tony Cliff in 1950, it became the International Socialists in 1962 and the SWP in 1977. The party cons ...

in 1956, they joined the Revolutionary Socialist League (RSL) in 1957. Jordan edited the RSL's paper ''Socialist Fight''Cohen, S. 'Pat Jordan (1928-2001) in ''Revolutionary History'' Vol.8 No.3 pg.278 before leaving to form the

International Group :''See also the International Marxist Group (Germany). The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It had around 1,000 members and support ...

in 1961. From 1964 to 1968 he edited and printed a weekly duplicated magazine, ''

The Week ''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's edi ...

'', at his tiny

bookshop Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librar ...

at 4 Dane Street, Nottingham. It was largely financed by his skill in retailing second-hand books and comics. A short-lived reunification of Jordan's International Group with the RSL in 1964 ended early in 1965, partly in protest at the RSL's support for the expulsion of members of the Socialist Labour League from the Wandsworth Labour Party. Working with Tony Southall, Charlie van Gelderen, Ken Coates and a group students from the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

, Jordan relaunched the International Group, which became the International Marxist Group in 1968. In the 1970s Jordan worked full-time for the International Marxist Group as its national secretary and then for the Fourth International, when he helped in the work of the Africa Commission. In 1985 he was struck by a chronically disabling

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

and removed from active political involvement. He died in August 2001.

References

External links

Obituary by Steve Cohen
* Tony Southall

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Pat British Trotskyists International Marxist Group members British Marxists 2001 deaths 1928 births British political party founders