Rowland William Casasola (14 May 1893 – 29 March 1971), known as "Roland", 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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and political activist. Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, Casasola completed an apprenticeship as an iron moulder and joined the Friendly Society of Iron Founders in 1912. He served with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in France during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and during the war was promoted to corporal.David Howell, ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.IV, pp.52-55 In 1919, Casasola returned to the UK and became active in 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 Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

(ILP) and the Labour Party. He studied with the

National Council of Labour Colleges The National Council of Labour Colleges (NCLC) was an organisation set up in the United Kingdom to foster independent working class education. The organisation was founded at a convention held in the Clarion Club House, Yardley, Birmingham on 8/9 ...

and continued to work as an iron moulder, now in the merged

National Union of Foundry Workers The National Union of Foundry Workers (NUFW) was a trade union representing workers in foundries in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1920 with the merger of the Associated Iron Moulders of Scotland, the Amalgamated Society o ...

. Casasola was a leading supporter of

William Dobbie Lieutenant General Sir William George Shedden Dobbie, (12 July 1879 – 3 October 1964) was a British Army officer who served in the Second Boer War and the First and Second World Wars. Early life William was born in Madras to a civil servan ...

's unsuccessful candidacy in

Stalybridge and Hyde Stalybridge and Hyde is a constituency in Greater Manchester that was created in 1918. The seat has been represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by Jonathan Reynolds of the Labour and Co-operative Party since ...

at the 1931 general election and, as a result, was selected as the Labour candidate for the seat at the 1935 general election. He lost and devoted the next few years to supporting the Republicans in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, claiming this was the reason he was not selected to fight the 1937 Stalybridge and Hyde by-election. However, he was selected as

Prospective Parliamentary Candidate In British politics, a prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) is a candidate selected by political parties to contest under individual Westminster constituencies in advance of a general election. The term originally came into use because of ...

for Bury at the election expected to take place in 1939 or 1940; when this was cancelled due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was instead selected for

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

, which he fought unsuccessfully at the 1945 general election. In 1946, Casasola was elected to the executive of the new

Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers __NOTOC__ The Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers (AUFW) was a trade union representing workers in foundries in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1946 with the merger of the National Union of Foundry Workers, the Ironfounding Wor ...

, and because Jim Gardner, the union's general secretary, was active 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 ...

(CPGB), Casasola became its representative to Labour Party conferences. This enabled him to gain union funding to contest Manchester Moss Side at the 1950 general election, but he came a distant second, and a final contest at Blackburn West at the 1951 general election was also unsuccessful. During the early 1950s, Casasola was a prominent opponent of German rearmament, moving an unsuccessful resolution on the subject at the Labour Party conference. In 1954, he was elected as chairman of the Foundry Workers, and in 1956 was elected to the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party. He retired from his posts in 1958, and resigned from the Labour Party in 1961 to join the CPGB.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casasola, Roland 1893 births 1971 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain members Trade unionists from Manchester Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates