Sydney Robert Elliott (31 August 1902 – 9 October 1987) 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 ...

Biography

Born on

Clydeside Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...

, Scotland, Elliott became involved in the

co-operative movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...

. In the late 1920s, he moved to Manchester to become editor of the monthly co-operative journal '' The Millgate Monthly''."Our London Correspondence", ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 28 November 1953 In 1929, the Sunday newspaper ''

Reynold's News ''Reynold's News'' was a Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom, founded as ''Reynolds's Weekly Newspaper''Joanne Shattock, ''The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature'', p.2908 by George W. M. Reynolds in 1850, who became its first edito ...

'' was bought by the

Co-operative Press The Co-operative Press is a co-operative whose principal activity is the publication of ''Co-op News''. The society's stated mission is to "connect, champion and challenge the global co-operative movement". The co-operative's members are the sub ...

, and Elliott was appointed as its editor. He worked on updating the appearance of the paper, and appointed H.N. Brailsford and

Hamilton Fyfe Henry Hamilton Fyfe (29 September 1869 – 15 June 1951) was a British journalist and writer who was editor of both the newspapers the ''Daily Mirror'' and the '' Daily Herald''. Career Born in London, and educated at Fettes College, Edinburgh ...

as columnists. In 1937, he wrote a comprehensive account of the movement, ''England: Cradle of Co-operation'', while he also launched the

United Peace Alliance United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * United (2003 film), ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * United (2011 film) ...

to campaign against Franco 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 ...

. This soon became the focus of unsuccessful attempts by communists and left-wing members of the Labour Party to create a

popular front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

. In 1941, Elliott moved to

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 ...

to work on the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', then showing sympathy with radical causes under its editor,

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 ...

. He succeeded Foot as editor in 1943, but left during the run-up to the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgarian ...

after owner Lord Beaverbrook began pressing him to advocate a vote for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. He became Editorial Advisor at the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'', where he masterminded its campaign to support the Labour Party at the 1945 election. He later moved to supervise the ''Mirror''s newspaper and radio operations in Australia, but returned to become general manager of the '' Daily Herald'' in 1952. Elliott became editor of the ''Herald'' in November 1953. In 1957, the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

rescinded its editorial control of the paper to

Odhams Press Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and the ...

, and Elliott left the paper."Our London Correspondence", '' Manchester Guardian'', 18 September 1957 He was then engaged by Tim Hewat to research a brief for a television documentary strand on ITV, to be based on social issues. This led to the ''Searchlight'' series, a precursor of ''

World in Action ''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its product ...

'', on which Elliott worked as a researcher.Peter Godard et al, ''Public issue television'', pp.12, 17 His grandson,

Ben Summerskill Ben Jeffrey Peter Summerskill (born 6 October 1961 in Kent) is chair of The Silver Line and director of the Criminal Justice Alliance, a consortium of 135 charities working across the GB criminal justice pathway. He was the chief executive of th ...

, is a former chief executive of Stonewall, the LGBT equality organisation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Sydney 1902 births 1987 deaths British cooperative organizers Scottish newspaper editors London Evening Standard people