John Edmonds (born 28 January 1944) is a British former trade union official.

Edmonds grew up in South London, and was educated at Christ's Hospital School and Oriel College, Oxford. On graduation, he found work as a research assistant with the National Union of General and Municipal Workers, moving on to become a field officer, then a National Industrial Officer.[1]

In 1986, Edmonds became General Secretary of the union, by then known as the GMB. In this role, he became known as a critic of Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. He stood down as leader in 2003, one year ahead of schedule.[2] In retirement, he has remained active in the Labour Party in south and west London.

References

  1. ^ Stuart Thomson, "John (Walter) Edmonds Archived 2011-10-02 at the Wayback Machine"
  2. ^ Ben Russell, "Edmonds to step down as GMB leader a year early", The Independent, 29 October 2002
Trade union offices Preceded byKen Baker National Industrial Officer of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers 1971 – 1986 Succeeded byPat Turner Preceded byDavid Basnett General Secretary of the GMB 1986–2003 Succeeded byKevin Curran Preceded byTony Dubbins President of the Trades Union Congress 1998 Succeeded byHector MacKenzie
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