Jon Lansman

Jon Lansman
Born July 1957 (age 58)
Nationality British
Alma mater University of Cambridge
Occupation Political activist
Years active 1979–present
Political party Labour Party
Movement Momentum

Jon Lansman (born July 1957)[1] is a British Labour Party activist, who worked on Jeremy Corbyn's successful 2015 campaign for the Labour party leadership, and subsequently founded the pro-Corbyn organisation Momentum. Lansman has formerly worked for both Tony Benn and Michael Meacher, and was a prominent supporter of Benn during the Wilderness Years of the Labour Party. He is currently the editor of the "increasingly influential" left-wing website, Left Futures.[2]

Education

Lansman has a degree in economics from the University of Cambridge.

Political career

Wilderness Years of the Labour Party

During the Labour Party's early years of opposition following the defeat of the Callaghan government in 1979, Lansman worked as the "chief" fixer for Tony Benn.[3] He was a prominent member of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy (CLPD) and worked with Benn on his campaign during the 1981 Labour Party deputy leadership election.[4] He was also the Secretary of the Rank and File Mobilising Committee (RFMC), which was the primary campaigning organisation for Benn.[5] In 1981, Lansman "did surprisingly badly" but was successful in the election for the Labour Co-ordinating Committee.[6]

During the campaign for the 1981 deputy leadership election, Denis Healey, on the Weekend World discussion programme, falsely accused Lansman of organising the severe heckling of speeches he had given in Cardiff and Birmingham. Lansman denied this was the case, as he had been in Spain during the Cardiff meeting and travelling to Aberystwyth during the Birmingham meeting.[7] Healey later apologised for his mistake.[8] According to Lansman, the producers of Weekend World, London Weekend Television, accepted he had been slandered and made an out of court settlement.[9]

Lansman subsequently worked as a researcher for Michael Meacher.[10][11]

Leadership of Jeremy Corbyn

Lansman volunteered for Jeremy Corbyn's leadership campaign in the 2015 Labour Party leadership election, and was the sole director of an Jeremy Corbyn Campaign 2015 (Supporters) Ltd, an official campaign company that held the data collected by the campaign.[12] During the election, he was criticised for posting a link on Twitter to a Facebook page depicting rival candidate Liz Kendall as a future Conservative Party leader. Lansman's comments were condemned by a Corbyn campaign spokesperson, who said: "Jon Lansman's tweets are not on behalf of the campaign. We discourage all Jeremy Corbyn supporters from joining in with spoof websites or social media."[11]

Following Corbyn's election on 12 September 2015, Lansman founded the campaign group Momentum. Before the Labour Party Conference in late September 2015, Lansman was defeated by Michael Cashman and Gloria De Piero in an election for membership of the Conference Arrangements Committee, that sets the agenda for the Conference..[13] Lansman is reported to be a supporter of mandatory reselection for Labour MPs.[14] On 23 October 2015, his company, Jeremy Corbyn Campaign 2015 (Supporters) Ltd, officially had its name changed to Momentum Campaign Ltd.[15]

In October 2015, he denied rumours that he was planning to stand to be the Labour Party candidate in Michael Meacher's constituency of Oldham West and Royton, which was due for a by-election following Meacher's death on 21 October.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "John Lansman - London - Political Advisor". Check Company. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Bush, Stephen (26 October 2015). "Labour MPs are worried about Momentum. Should they be?". New Statesman. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Beckett, Francis. "Lessons from Labour’s wilderness years". Total Politics. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Kogan, David; Kogan, Maurice (1982). The Battle for the Labour Party. Glasgow: Fontana. p. 41.
  5. ↑ Kogan, David; Kogan, Maurice (1982). The Battle for the Labour Party. Glasgow: Fontana. p. 108.
  6. ↑ Kogan, David; Kogan, Maurice (1982). The Battle for the Labour Party. Glasgow: Fontana. p. 151.
  7. ↑ Kogan, David; Kogan, Maurice (1982). The Battle for the Labour Party. Glasgow: Fontana. pp. 112–113.
  8. ↑ Rusell, William (21 September 1981). "Healey apologises to Benn supporter". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  9. ↑ Lansman, Jon (4 October 2015). "Remembering Denis Healey – the good, the bad and the utterly hilarious". Left Futures. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  10. ↑ Peev, Gerri (24 October 2015). "Radical Corbyn ally lined up for by-election after death of MP Michael Meacher". Daily Mail. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  11. 1 2 Wilkinson, Michael (24 July 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn supporter publishes spoof 'Tory' Liz Kendall picture". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Hawkins, Ross (24 July 2015). "Corbyn campaign supporter in Kendall 'Tory spoof' picture". BBC News. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  13. ↑ Pickard, Jim (24 September 2015). "Labour haunted by return of internecine battles". Financial Times. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  14. 1 2 George Eaton (23 October 2015). "Who will Labour's Oldham by-election candidate be?". New Statesman. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "Momentum Campaign Ltd". Companies House. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
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