SPGB Meetings: 1985-86 Winter Lectures (1985)

Party News from the October 1985 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings (1963)

Party News from the October 1963 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note:

'W. Walters' - speaking on the General Strike - at the Paddington and Marylebone Branch of the SPGB would have been a typo. That was Bill Waters.

SPGB Meetings (1996)

Party News from the July 1996 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note:

Sadly, none of the meetings listed were recorded. Or at least the audio files - if they exist - are not readily available. I remember accompanying Binay Sarkar of the World Socialist Party of India (with Dave Flynn) to a trip into Central London where we visited the Karl Marx blue plaque at 28 Dean Street.

I didn't attend the election fundraiser at Clapham High Street, but I remember being told that Julius Merry was in attendance and gave a generous donation to election funds. Professor Merry was another one of those fascinating SPGBers from yesteryear who don't usually appear in the Party histories.

SPGB Meetings (1982)

Party News from the December 1982 issue of the Socialist Standard

Blogger's Note:

Audio recordings of the following meetings from the December 1982 Standard are available on the SPGB website.

WILLIAM MORRIS’ VISION OF SOCIALISM (Part 1, Part 2)

Part of the series Socialist Thinkers – People Who History Made

Date: 12th December 1982

Speaker - Steve Coleman

MARTOV AND THE ANTI-BOLSHEVIK APPROACH TO REVOLUTION

Part of the series Socialist Thinkers – People Who History Made

Date: 26th December 1982

Speaker - Steve Coleman

SPGB Meetings (2010)

Party News from the September 2010 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings (1992)

Party News from the August 1992 issue of the Socialist Standard

Obituary: Ron Nicholson (1987)

Obituary from the June 1987 issue of the Socialist Standard

We regretfully announce the death of Ron Nicholson, a member of West London Branch. Ron was a socialist for many years and became an active organiser in his branch, recently working hard in the combined activities of West London and Hammersmith Branches. His death came suddenly and he will be sadly missed.

Obituary: Ralph Critchfield (2024)

Obituary from the January 2024 issue of the Socialist Standard

Ralph Critchfield, who wrote for the Socialist Standard for nearly 70 years under the name of Ivan, died at the beginning of November. He joined the Socialist Party in 1947 at the age of 17 after listening to outdoor speakers on Ealing Green in West London. His two brothers were also Party members. He recounted how and why he joined in an article that appeared in the World Socialist in 1985.

He was born, lived and worked in West London all his life. As a conscientious objector to ‘national service’ he was required to work at Ealing film studio. Later he worked, as many from the area did, for Hoover in Western Avenue. Dissatisfied with a useless office job there, he changed career to become a probation officer.

His first article appeared in 1949, with the others following more frequently. In 1960 he became a member of the Editorial Committee, a position in which he served for a decade or so. From then until his last article in 2018 he wrote at least one every month, a remarkable achievement. An accomplished and skilful writer, his articles were not just straight expositions of the case for socialism — though he did draft a pamphlet of that title that was published in 1962. There were many exposing the horrors of war and what wars mean for ordinary people. He particularly specialised in analysis of politicians, parliament and the main political parties of capitalism, writing columns for the Standard on this theme for many years, including ‘Caught In the Act’ and ‘Greasy Pole’. There were also many pieces about daily life, sometimes based on his personal experience. In fact, if you were to go through them you would know that he must have worked for Hoover and later had a job in the criminal justice system. However, he never seemed to have mentioned playing rugby or being a rugby referee.

He stood as the Socialist Party candidate for parliament at two general elections — in Hampstead in 1974 and in Islington in 1979. He was also a candidate on a number of occasions in local elections in Ealing. In addition, he represented the Party in a number of public debates against opponents ranging from the Communist Party to a future Conservative MP.

Ralph Critchfield was a dedicated socialist who was engaged for over 70 years in the struggle for socialism and who made a massive contribution to the cause. A Party member spoke at his non-religious funeral. Our condolences go to his wife and family.

Blogger's Note:

Readers wishing to read more of Ralph's wonderful articles are invited to check out this page which is dedicated to his writings in the Standard and elsewhere.

SPGB Meetings (1995)

Party News from the December 1995 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings (2007)

Party News from the November 2007 issue of the Socialist Standard

SPGB Meetings (1967)

Party News from the October 1967 issue of the Socialist Standard

Branch News (1963)

Party News from the September 1963 issue of the Socialist Standard

In London, for the first time in the Party’s history, a Rally is being arranged in Trafalgar Square on Sunday, 15th September at 3.30 pm. Permission from the authorities has been granted and therefore all that remains to ensure success is the greatest support from every comrade who can possibly get to the Square on that day. The Propaganda Committee is holding a meeting of Committees and Branch Organisers and special arrangements for literature sales are being made. This occasion can be made really worthwhile, and one hundred per cent support from every member will help it to be so.

The Delegate Meeting is being held at Head Office on Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday, October 5th and 6th—a weekend to note in diaries. Paddington Branch have booked Hampstead Town Hall for a propaganda meeting on October 21st. Full details in the October Standard.

Our comrade Joe McGuinness is working hard for Socialism whilst at the same time working for his living. He is hoping to start a group in East Essex. Details under Groups on page 134.

West London Branch (ex-Ealing) have settled down well in their new meeting place and are looking forward to a very busy winter season of lectures, discussions, and film shows. We hope to publish details of the first meetings in next month’s Standard.

Glasgow Branch are enjoying their most successful outdoor season for may years. They are holding four meetings a week in Glasgow and two in Edinburgh. A feature of this summer's outdoor activity has been the success of the Sunday afternoon meetings at the new stance at Kent Street. This stance is in the middle of Glasgow's Sunday Market Place—the Barrowlands. The audience is usually between 100 and 200 and literature sales have been especially encouraging. The branch are also preparing for the forthcoming General Election in the Woodside Constituency and preparing a series of posters dealing with various aspects of the Party’s case to be displayed in Woodside prior to the election.

The event which has engendered the most enthusiasm from Glasgow members, however, is the recent acquisition of rented premises in Berkeley Street. This was made possible by the donation of £50 from a Canadian comrade who recently visited Glasgow. The premises are a three apartment basement flat which the Glasgow comrades are transforming from a slum into very attractive headquarters for Socialist activity. The Monday evening branch meetings are now held in the new branch rooms and education classes are due to start there at the beginning of October. It is also hoped to run a weekly discussion group very shortly. It is felt in Glasgow that branch rooms are essential for organisational and propaganda work and their lack until recently has held back our drive for better propagation of the Party’s case. News of Glasgow branch activity in regard to indoor meetings, classes, etc., will appear in next month’s Standard.

Phyllis Howard

Obituary: Vincent Littlemore (2009)

Obituary from the October 2009 issue of the Socialist Standard

West London branch are saddened to have to report the death in August of Vincent Littlemore two days before his 80th birthday. He first came across the party at outdoor meetings in Manchester, where he originally came from, joining as a teenager and becoming an outdoor speaker at Platts Fields and Alexandra Park. Later he moved to London where he studied to become a quantity surveyor. While pursuing his profession, getting married and raising a family, his membership lapsed but he remained a steadfast socialist arguing the case for socialism as the occasions arose. On his retirement in 1994 he formally rejoined and became a regular attender at branch meetings in Chiswick until he suffered a stroke in 2002. After that he kept in regular touch by telephone to discuss books about the state of the capitalist economy and how best to publicise the socialist case. The Party was represented at his non-religious funeral in Leatherhead. Our condolences go to his daughter Sue, the BBC  journalist, and to her partner John Denham.

Obituary: Oliver Bond (2022)

Obituary from the September 2022 issue of the Socialist Standard

Oliver Bond, one of our most active members, died suddenly at the beginning of August as a result of an unsuccessful emergency operation. He was 66 and had not yet got round to claiming his state pension. Oliver was born in Canada but was brought up in Scotland. He joined the old Islington branch in 1984 during its very active period. He worked as a programmer on mainframe computers but was made redundant in his 50s and was never employed again. Some of his work colleagues could only find jobs working in a call centre, such was the reduced demand for workers with their particular skills. In the Party he was involved in a whole range of activities, street selling, pub selling, writing (his last contribution was the editorial in the June issue), even speaking occasionally, and also as an election candidate and agent. At the time of his death he was on the ballot committee, the member responsible for subscriptions to the Socialist Standard, and Treasurer of the South & West London branch. Outside the Party he was a keen member of CAMRA. He was a quiet, thoughtful and diligent man, generous to a fault and who could never say ‘no’. He will be sorely missed by his friends and comrades. Our particular condolences go to his brother and sister in Canada.

SPGB Meetings (1991)

Party News from the August 1991 issue of the Socialist Standard

Obituary: Melvin Tenner (2021)

Obituary  from the May 2021 issue of the Socialist Standard

We regret to report that Melvin Tenner died in April after failing to recover from a serious health incident in November. He was 74. He joined the old Paddington Branch in 1972 after meeting a member selling the Socialist Standard outside a tube station in West London. He had previously been associated with various left-wing groups. He had been at art college but at the time was working at a university bookshop. Subsequently he set up his own mail order bookselling business, the Academic Book Club. He used to recount how on one occasion after innocently selling a collection of difficult-to-get technical books to an Iraqi he was interviewed by MI6. Maybe they mistakenly thought that his politics inclined him to support Saddam Hussein. Whatever, the Iraqis weren’t pleased either as the books were old and they thought Melvin had diddled them when they compared the old pounds shillings and pence on the cover with his standard finder’s fee.

In the Party he was one of the editors of the Socialist Standard in the 1980s both as a writer of carefully crafted articles and as designer. We reproduce one of the covers he designed.

Somewhat lugubrious but with a dry wit that reflected his dexterity and intelligence, Melvin was a dedicated socialist and involved in a range of other Party activities too. These included more recently being a member of the Executive Committee, and, at the time of his death, a Party Trustee and Secretary of West London branch.

Outside the Party he was a lifelong Fulham FC supporter and previously Chair of the Fulham Supporters’ Club, leading a successful campaign to raise money from fans to keep the club going. Our condolences go to his family.

Blogger's Note:

A non-political obituary for Melvin was posted on the website of the Fulham Supporters' Trust.

It's a shame that the obituary didn't mention that Melvin was the partner of the late comrade, Eva Goodman, another stalwart member of the SPGB.

Rest in Peace, comrade. 

Obituary: Gordon Beeson (1985)

Obituary from the March 1985 issue of the Socialist Standard

Members heard with regret of the death of Comrade Gordon Beeson at the age of 85. who spent a long life working hard and enthusiastically propagating socialism. He joined the Party in 1931 and was a member of Kingston Branch, transferring to Ealing, later West London Branch in the 1950s.

Living in New Malden. Surrey, he was rarely seen at Branch or Party meetings but worked indefatigably in the area of his home. Until recently, when ill-health restricted his activities he undertook literature drives and regularly held meetings. He sold the Standard for many years in New Malden High Street where he and his wife Edna were well known for their work for socialism

We all extend our sympathies to his wife and family.

West London Branch

Obituary: Gordon Docherty (2020)

Obituary from the August 2020 issue of the Socialist Standard

West London branch regret to have to report the death of Comrade Gordon Docherty in June at the age of 79. He hailed from Glasgow where he joined the local branch in 1964 after listening to Party speakers in George Square. He served an apprenticeship as a turner lathe operator at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Govan and was one of a number of Glasgow comrades who moved to London at the end of the 1960s.

As a skilled engineering worker he had no problem in finding a job, at the Lucas CAV factory in Acton where he was an active trade unionist and AEU shop steward. In 1974 he won a landmark court case – which the New Statesman called ‘the case of Mr Docherty’s furniture’ – which resulted in hundreds of thousands of furnished tenancies becoming unfurnished and so enjoying a greater security against eviction.

He was a regular attendee at branch meetings and other branch events till last year. Our condolences go to his family and friends.

Local Election Results (1990)

Party News from the July 1990 issue of the Socialist Standard

The results in the two wards contested by the Socialist Party in the May local elections were as follows:

Winton ward. Salford Borough Council: Prior (Lab) 2790, Botton (Con) 506, Hanley (Green) 267, Rushton (Soc) 101.

Southfield Ward. London Borough of Ealing: Ebonezer (Con) 1574, Atkinson (Con) 1568, Richardson (Con) 1568, Hill (Lab) 1295, Tatlorsall (Lab) 1254, Rose (Lib Dem) 1089, Bastin (Lab) 1069, Huck (Lib Dem) 1031, Lourie (Lib Dem) 1000, Landon (Green) 501, Buick (Soc) 41, Critchfield (Soc) 37, Cronin (Soc) 31.

Obituary: Fred Hallows (2020)

Obituary from the July 2020 issue of the Socialist Standard

West London branch regret to report the death in his 90s in March of longstanding member Fred Hallows. He joined the old Ealing branch after the war (during which, before he became a socialist, he had been in the RAF as a glider pilot) and was one of the branch’s stalwarts until his retirement and move to Towcester in Northamptonshire. He worked as a draughtsman and was a founder member in 1950 and president of the Grasshoppers Rugby Club in Isleworth which is still going. During his long retirement he continued to take an interest in Party affairs and vote in Party ballots. Our condolences go to his family and friends.