- Gordon McLennan
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Gordon McLennan (12 May 1924 – 21 May 2011[1]) was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) between 1975 and 1990.
Born in Glasgow, McLennan worked as an engineering draughtsperson before taking on various full-time posts within the CPGB. He contested the Glasgow Govan constituency in the 1959 UK general election, then the West Lothian by-election, 1962; Govan in the 1964 and 1966 UK general elections. He became the National Organiser of the CPGB in 1966, and while holding this post, contested elections in St Pancras North in the 1970 and February 1974 general elections.
In 1975, McLennan was elected General Secretary of the CPGB. He held the post while the party was in terminal decline, with factional fighting within the CPGB, finally stepping down in 1989. After the dissolution of the party, in 1991, he joined the Communist Party of Scotland. He remained active in the pensioners' movement and supported the Respect – The Unity Coalition candidate George Galloway in the 2005 general election. He also maintained contact with the Alliance for Green Socialism, one of the successor bodies to the CPGB (via the Green Socialist Network) but although he addressed AGS meetings and wrote for the AGS journal (Green Socialist) he never joined this organisation.
References
- ^ Francis Beckett Obituary: Gordon McLennan, The Guardian, 23 May 2011
- A. Thomas Lane, Biographical Dictionary of European Labor Leaders
Party political offices Preceded by
Finlay HartSecretary of the Scottish District of the Communist Party of Great Britain
1956 - 1966Succeeded by
Jimmy ReidPreceded by
Bill LauchlanNational Organiser of the Communist Party of Great Britain
1966 - 1975Succeeded by
Dave CookPreceded by
John GollanGeneral Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain
1976 - 1989Succeeded by
Nina TempleAssistant General Secretaries Fred Peet (1920-22) · John Gollan (1947-49) · George Matthews (1949-56) · Bill Wainwright (1956-59) · Bill Alexander (1959-67) · Reuben Falber (1968-79) ·
Chairmen Arthur MacManus (1920-27) · Willie Gallacher (1943-56) · Harry Pollitt (1956-60) · Tony Chater (1968-70) · John Tocher (1970-74) · Mick McGahey (1974-78) · George Bolton (1980s)
National Organisers Tom Bell (1920-21) · Bob Stewart (1921-23) · Harry Pollitt (1923-) · Idris Cox (1930s) · R. W. Robson (1930s) · Dave Springhall (1940-43) · Peter Kerrigan (1943-51) · Mick Bennett (1951-54) · John Gollan (1954-56) · Bill Lauchlan (1956-66) · Gordon McLennan (1966-75) · Dave Cook (1975-1980s) · Ian McKay (1980s-1991)
National Industrial Organisers Ernie Woolley (1925-) · Finlay Hart (1937-39?) · George Allison (1940s-51) · Peter Kerrigan (1951-66) · Bert Ramelson (1965-77) · Mick Costello (1977-83) · Pete Carter (1983-1980s)
Publications Associated groups Predecessors Splits Appeal Group · Committee to Defeat Revisionism, for Communist Unity · Communist League · Communist Party of Britain · Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) · Communist Party of Great Britain (PCC) · Communist Workers' Party · Fife Socialist League · New Communist Party of Britain · Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist LeagueOther topics Categories:- 1924 births
- 2011 deaths
- Communist Party of Great Britain members
- Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom
- People from Glasgow
- Scottish communists
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