Mike Hicks (trade unionist)
Michael Joseph Hicks (1 August 1937 – 7 September 2017) was a British politician, executive member of printers’ union SOGAT, and general secretary of the Communist Party of Britain.[2]
Mike Hicks | |
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Mike Hicks in 1986 | |
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain | |
In office 1988 – 1 January 1998 | |
Succeeded by | Robert Griffiths |
Personal details | |
Born | Michael Joseph Hicks 1 August 1937 |
Died | 7 September 2017 (aged 80) Bournemouth, Dorset, England |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Labour |
Other political affiliations | Communist Party of Britain (1988–1998) Communist Party of Great Britain (1953–1988) |
Spouse(s) | Rosemary Hicks (divorced), Mary Rosser (1989–2010, deceased)[1] |
Children | 2 |
Career
Hicks joined the Young Communist League in 1953 and later the Communist Party of Great Britain. He worked as a printer and was a member of the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT). A full-time branch official for the union in 1986,[3] Hicks was arrested and convicted of actual bodily harm during the Wapping dispute. His conviction and sentencing – to 12 months in prison[4] – were controversial, with the national executive committee of the Labour Party voting unanimously to call for his release.[5] He was expelled from the CPGB in 1984[6] "for allowing Rule 3(d) to be applied" as the chair of the London District Congress, i.e. continuing with the congress proceedings in defiance of a demand from CPGB General Secretary Gordon McLennan to close it down.[7]
He subsequently joined the Communist Campaign Group, mainly composed of those expelled from the CPGB for their opposition to revisionism and, in 1988, was a founding member of the Communist Party of Britain. Hicks served as its general secretary until his replacement by Robert Griffiths in 1998,[8] which led to an industrial dispute at the Morning Star[9] and subsequently left the party and helped to form the Marxist Forum group. He served as the trade union officer of the London-based Marx Memorial Library from 2005 to 2010. He joined the Labour Party, and unsuccessfully stood as a council election candidate in the Boscombe East ward of Bournemouth on 5 May 2011, gaining 514 votes.[10]
Death
Hicks died at age 80 on the evening of 7 September 2017 after collapsing while accepting the position of Honorary President of Bournemouth Labour Party at its annual general meeting.[11]
References
- Obituary: Mary Rosser-Hicks, Daily Telegraph, 10 January 2011.
- MacLeod, Alexander (5 September 1991). "British Far Left Grapples With Soviet Collapse". Christian Science Monitor.
- "Printers and police clash in Wapping". BBC. 15 February 2005.
- Searle, Chris (July 1987). "Your daily dose: racism and the Sun". Race & Class. 29 (1): 55-56. doi:10.1177/030639688702900104.
- "Hansard". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 18 December 1986. col. 1339–1340.
- Leybourn, Keith (29 March 2006). Marxism in Britain: Dissent, Decline and Re-emergence 1945 – c. 2000. Routledge. p. 158. ISBN 9781134351657.
- Stevenson, Graham. "The British Communist Party in the 1980s: revisionism, resistance and re-establishment".
- "The Political Situation in Britain". The New Worker. New Communist Party of Britain.
- Sullivan, John. "The Crisis at the Morning Star". What Next?. Archived from the original on 10 January 2005.
- "Boscombe East – Candidates from Bournemouth Echo". bournemouthecho.co.uk. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- Society, People's Printing Press. "Wapping veteran Mike Hicks dies aged 80". morningstaronline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
Party political offices | ||
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Preceded by New position |
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain 1988–1998 |
Succeeded by Robert Griffiths |