Dave Nellist
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David Nellist (born July 1952) is a Trotskyist political figure and former Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for the former constituency of Coventry South East. He is a member of the Socialist Party of England and Wales and a sitting councillor in Coventry as well as an active member of the Amicus trade union.
A long-standing Marxist and at that time supporter of the Militant Tendency, Nellist was an MP in Coventry from 1983 to 1992, when he was known for his standing as a "workers' MP on a worker's wage". He took only the wage of a skilled factory worker, less than half that which other MPs took for themselves, the rest he donated back to the Labour movement.
When Tony Blair was first elected to Parliament in 1983, it was intended that he would share an office with Nellist at the Palace of Westminster. The duo's differing political views were considered not to make for the most harmonious working environment, so Blair was quickly allocated office space with another newly-elected Labour MP - Gordon Brown,[1] a friendship which would lead to the creation of New Labour.
When the editorial board of Militant was expelled from the Labour Party, Nellist became a target of the majority element around Neil Kinnock within the party. After fighting to keep his position and in spite of being elected by MPs as Parliamentarian of the Year, he was eventually deselected by Labour's National Executive Committee as a candidate for the 1992 general election. He stood as an Independent Labour candidate, losing his old seat by just over than a thousand votes.
Within a short time, he was elected as a City Councillor in Coventry, and now leads a group of two Socialist Councillors representing St Michael's ward on Coventry City Council. He followed the majority of Militant in founding what became the Socialist Party (not to be confused with the Socialist Party of Great Britain). In the 1990s, he was a prominent figure in organising the Socialist Alliance locally and across the UK as a loose formation of individuals and groups from the Socialist tradition working together electorally. He became the Chair of the Socialist Alliance, but resigned in 2001, in protest of what the Socialist Party saw as manouverings of the Socialist Workers Party to take control of the Alliance.
Nellist is now one of the leading figures in the Campaign for a New Workers' Party in Britain, which is a Socialist Party sponsored campaign to create a new party to represent the working class in the UK.
[edit] References
- ^ O'Farrell, John, Things Can Only Get Better: Eighteen Miserable Years in the Life of a Labour Supporter (1997)
[edit] External links
- Socialist Alternative Article on Nellist's 1992 election campaign
- Socialist Party website Coventry page
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Wilson |
Member of Parliament for Coventry South East 1983–1992 |
Succeeded by Jim Cunningham |
