Annie Powell

Annie Powell (1906 or 1907 - August 29 1986) was a Welsh communist politician.

Born in Rhondda, Powell became interested in politics while at college in the 1920s. She joined the Labour Party, but was impressed by the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB)'s emphasis on theory and action. After long consideration, she put aside her non-conformist religious background and joined the CPGB.

She remained a teacher and became active in the National Union of Teachers, while contesting Rhondda East for the party at several general elections. She sat on the Welsh Committee of the CPGB, and at one time was its women's organiser. In 1960, she was a CPGB delegate to a major conference of communist parties in Moscow, where she claimed to have impressed Khrushchev with her rendition of "Hen Wlad fy Nhadau", the traditional national anthem of Wales. Perhaps because of this, she became a supporter of Khrushchev's ideas within the CPGB.

In 1961, Powell was finally elected as a councillor in Rhondda. She served on the council for the next twenty years, and in 1979 was appointed mayor. As such, she is often said to have been Britain's only Communist mayor, although Finlay Hart had held an equivalent post as provost in Clydebank.

References

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/walesonair/database/annie.shtml BBC - Wales On Air - Annie Powell]
* [http://seek-the-truth-serve-the-people.blogspot.com/2006_07_02_seek-the-truth-serve-the-people_archive.html Annie Powell - Rhondda Communist]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE1DC1439F93AA1575BC0A960948260 Annie Powell (obituary)] , "New York Times"
*Graham Stevenson, " [http://graham.thewebtailor.co.uk/archives/000088.html Compendium of Communist Biography] "