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Gordon McLennan
7th General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain
In office
11 March 1975 – January 1990
Preceded byJohn Gollan
Succeeded byNina Temple
Personal details
Born(1924-05-12)12 May 1924
Glasgow, Scotland
Died21 May 2011(2011-05-21) (aged 87)
London, England
Political partyCommunist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Scotland
Spouse
Mary
​
(m. 1950)​
Children4
OccupationDraughtsperson

Gordon McLennan (12 May 1924 – 21 May 2011) was a Scottish political activist and draughtsperson who served as the seventh General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain from 11 March 1975 to January 1990.

Background

Born in Glasgow, McLennan worked as an engineering draughtsperson before taking on various full-time posts within the CPGB.[1] He contested the Glasgow Govan constituency at the 1959 general election (coming last of three candidates, with 4.9%),[2] then the 1962 West Lothian by-election (last of five, with 3.61%),[3] and Glasgow Govan again at the 1964 and 1966 general elections (last of three on both occasions, with 4.41% and 4% respectively).[4][5]

He became the National Organiser of the CPGB in 1966,[1] and while holding this post, contested elections in St Pancras North at the 1970 and February 1974 general elections, finishing last on both occasions, with 1.67% and 2.41% respectively.[6][7]

General Secretary

In 1975, McLennan was elected as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He held the post while the party was in terminal decline, with factional infighting within the CPGB, finally stepping down in 1989. One of his acts as General Secretary was to appoint Martin Jacques, then an academic at the University of Bristol, as editor of Marxism Today in 1977.[8]

In November 1982, he attended the State Funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, alongside Foreign Secretary Francis Pym and British Ambassador to the Soviet Union Iain Sutherland.[9]

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 at 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.

Plaque dedicated to McLennan at Golders Green Crematorium

Personal life and death

McLennan married his wife, Mary, in 1950, and they had four children.[10] He died from cancer in London on 21 May 2011 at the age of 87.[1][10] He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium.

References

  1. ^ a b c Beckett, Francis (23 May 2011). "Gordon McLennan obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  2. ^ "1959 General Election - Glasgow Govan". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  3. ^ "1962 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  4. ^ "1964 General Election - Glasgow Govan". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  5. ^ "1966 General Election - Glasgow Govan". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  6. ^ "1970 General Election - St Pancras North". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  7. ^ "February 1974 General Election - St Pancras North". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  8. ^ Harris, John (29 September 2015). "Marxism Today: the forgotten visionaries whose ideas could save Labour". theguardian.com. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  9. ^ Похороны Леонида Ильича Брежнева: Траурный митинг на Красной площади - Здесь же - многочисленные зарубежные гости, прибывшие на похороны Л.И. Брежнева [The Funeral of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev: Mass Service in Red Square – Foreign Guests In Attendance]. Правда [Pravda] (in Russian). Vol. 320, no. 23481. 16 November 1982.
  10. ^ a b Steel, Peta (4 June 2011). "Gordon McLennan: Political activist who led the Communist Party of Great Britain but was unable to prevent its demise". The Independent. Retrieved 26 June 2022.

Sources

Party political offices Preceded byBill Lauchlan Secretary of the Scottish District of the Communist Party of Great Britain 1956–1966 Succeeded byJimmy Reid Preceded byBill Lauchlan National Organiser of the Communist Party of Great Britain 1966–1975 Succeeded byDave Cook Preceded byJohn Gollan General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain 1975–1989 Succeeded byNina Temple
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