Nina Claire Temple (born 21 April 1956) is a British politician who was the last SecretaryTemple dropped 'General' from her job description, see Francis Beckett ''Enemy Within: The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party'', London: John Murray, 1995, p213 of 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 ...

and was formerly a

think-tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

director in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Early life

Temple was born in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the daughter of Barbara J. (Rainnie) and Landon Roy Temple. Born into a communist family (her father ran Progressive Tours and was a

member), she joined the Young Communist League when she was 13, later protesting in London against the Vietnam War. She has a degree in materials science from

Imperial College, London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

. She is the sister of film director

Julien Temple Julien Temple (born 26 November 1953) is a British film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll ...

and the aunt of actress

Juno Temple Juno Temple (born 21 July 1989) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the comedy series ''Ted Lasso'' (2020–2023) and in the fifth season of the crime drama series '' Fargo'' (2023–2024). She earned Primetime Emmy Award nomi ...

Communist Party of Great Britain

During the late 1970s she was

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the Young Communist League and became a prominent member of the Eurocommunist faction within the party. She became a member of the CPGB executive in 1979, and then a member of the Political Committee in January 1982. She was the Press and Publicity Officer of the CPGB from January 1983 until 1989, when she became the last general secretary of the party in January 1990, aged 33. She pledged to make the party "feminist and green, as well as democratically socialist." In this role Temple became one of the leading proponents of the dissolution of the CPGB in November 1991, and the founding of its legal successor, the Democratic Left, proclaiming that "The internationalism of the 1990s will be as much informed by Greenpeace and Oxfam, as communism once was by Marx and Engels".

Think tanks

The Democratic Left continued through the 1990s, becoming the New Politics Network in 1999. Temple was its first director and worked for five years for the Make Votes Count Coalition. In June 2005 she started work as head of development and communications at the

Social Market Foundation The Social Market Foundation (SMF) is an independent British political public policy think-tank based in Westminster, London. It is one of the 'Top 12 Think Tanks in Britain' and was named 'UK Think Tank of the Year' by Prospect in 2012. Its pur ...

, a role she held until 2008.

Personal life

Temple has two children with a schoolteacher, a daughter born in 1987 and a son born in 1988. Temple became ill with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

in 2000. She trained in counselling at the Gestalt Centre in Old Street, and in September 2003 founded Sing For Joy, a choir of people with chronic degenerative diseases.

References

External links

Photo of Nina Temple in March 1992
{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, Nina Communist Party of Great Britain members Young Communist League of Britain members 1956 births Living people People with Parkinson's disease Institute directors Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom British socialist feminists Alumni of Imperial College London