Dick Seabrook

Richard B. Seabrook (1910[1] – 31 January 1986) was a British trade unionist and politician.

Early life

Seabrook grew up in Chelmsford, and worked repairing shoes for the Chelmsford Star Co-operative Society.[2] He joined the National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers (NUDAW) in 1926, and in 1931 he also joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).[1] He was highly active in the party and the associated National Unemployed Workers' Movement. With his brother, Alfred, in 1932, he led five hundred unemployed workers invading the Shire Hall chamber.[3] Also with Alfred, he revived Chelmsford Trades Council in 1932, it having been dormant for several years.[4]

In 1937, Seabrook began working full-time for NUDAW as an area organiser. Ten years later, NUDAW became part of the new Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW). Seabrook remained an area organiser, but was relocated to Norwich.[2] He remained active in the CPGB, serving as district chairman and treasurer during the early 1950s.[3]

Seabrook was elected to the executive council of USDAW in 1957. When union president Walter Padley was made a government minister in 1964, Seabrook won the election to succeed him, but he then lost the regularly scheduled election the following year, defeated by Rodney Hanes. In 1967, there was a further presidential election, and Seabrook won the position back, on this occasion serving until defeated by Jim D. Hughes in 1973.[5]

Seabrook opposed the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956, and resigned from the CPGB,[1] later becoming associated with the Chartist group.[6] Despite not being a member of Norwich City Council, in 1972/73 he served as Lord Mayor of Norwich, the last non-council member to hold the post. He was described by Patrick Palgrave-Moore as "one of the most controversial figures in recent times to hold office".[1]

gollark: Stupid "trusted computing"...
gollark: I mean, there's Google "Safety"Net and stuff.
gollark: I think it's partially for DRM-ish reasons.
gollark: It seems like nothing smaller than laptops is safe from user-hostile lockdowns, and even those are getting ARM-ed slightly.
gollark: They might actually break Termux within a version or two.

References
  1. Palgrave-Moore, Patrick (1978). The Mayors and Lord Mayors of Norwich: 1936-1974. Elvery Dowers Publications. p. 93.
  2. USDAW: 125 years strong. London: USDAW. 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  3. Walker, Michael. "Seabrook Dick". Compendium of Communist Biography. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  4. Wallace, Malcolm (1979). Nothing to lose - a world to win: a history of the Chelmsford and District Trades Union Council and the development of the Labour movement. pp. 75–86.
  5. Richardson, William (1979). A Union of Many Trades: the history of USDAW. London: USDAW. p. 242. ISBN 090695701X.
  6. Minkin, Lewis (1991). The contentious alliance: trade unions and the Labour Party. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 186. ISBN 0748603018.
Trade union offices
Preceded by
Walter Padley		 President of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
1964–1965		 Succeeded by
Rodney Hanes
Preceded by
Rodney Hanes		 President of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
1967–1973		 Succeeded by
Jim D. Hughes
Civic offices
Preceded by
Donald Pratt		 Lord Mayor of Norwich
1972–1973		 Succeeded by
Robert Symonds
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