James Middleton known as Jim Middleton, was a journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and political organiser best known for serving as the General Secretary of the Labour Party

General Secretary of the Labour Party

The General Secretary is the most senior employee of the British Labour Party, and acts as the non-voting secretary to the National Executive Committee...

.

Born in Clarborough

Clarborough

Clarborough is a village in Nottinghamshire, England. The civil parish of Clarborough and Welham had a population of 1,111 in the 2001 census. It is located 3 miles north-east of Retford. The parish church of St John the Baptist is of 13th century date, restored in 1874...

, Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

, Middleton worked for a printer, then as a journalist on his father's labour movement

Labour movement

The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...

 journal, the Workington Star. He joined the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour

Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour

The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was a nondenominational evangelical society founded in Portland, Maine, in 1881 by Francis Edward Clark...

 and the Independent Labour Party

Independent Labour Party

The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...

, then served in prominent roles on Workington

Workington

Workington is a town, civil parish and port on the west coast of Cumbria, England, at the mouth of the River Derwent. Lying within the Borough of Allerdale, Workington is southwest of Carlisle, west of Cockermouth, and southwest of Maryport...

 Trades Council and the local Labour Representation Committee.

In 1902, Middleton moved to work on the Harringay Mercury, and became the first Assistant Secretary of the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

. He remained in this role for many years, a close supporter of Ramsay MacDonald

Ramsay MacDonald

James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....

. He opposed World War I

Opposition to World War I

Opposition to World War I was mainly by left-wing groups, but there was also opposition by Christian pacifist and nationalist groups.The trade union and socialist movements had declared before the war their determined opposition to a war which they said could only mean workers killing each other in...

, founding the War Emergency Workers' National Committee, and was initially enthusiastic about the October Revolution

October Revolution

The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...

.

Middleton remained with the Labour Party in 1931 when MacDonald left to form the National Labour Organisation, although he stated that he was in awe at MacDonald's heroism over this move. In 1935, he succeeded Arthur Henderson

Arthur Henderson

Arthur Henderson was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and he served three short terms as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1908–1910, 1914–1917 and 1931-1932....

 and General Secretary of the party. In this role, he opposed proposals to form a popular front

Popular front

A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists. Being very broad, they can sometimes include centrist and liberal forces as well as socialist and communist groups...

 and worked to sideline all critics of the official party line. However, he increasingly became seen as ineffective, and retired in 1944.

In 1936, Middleton married Lucy Cox

Lucy Middleton

Lucy Annie Middleton was a Labour politician in the United Kingdom.Born Lucy Cox, in 1936 she married James Middleton, General Secretary of the Labour Party....

. He acted as her election agent

Election agent

In elections in the United Kingdom, as well as in certain other similar political systems such as India's, an election agent is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is sent to by those running the election. In elections in...

 from the 1945 UK general election, when she was the successful Labour candidate in Plymouth Sutton, until her last contest in 1955. In retirement, Middleton focussed on writing biographical sketches and obituaries of early Labour Party figures.