Jim Higgins (British politician)
Encyclopedia
Jim Higgins was a British
revolutionary socialist and leading member of the International Socialists
.
, Higgins joined the Young Communist League
at 14. Age eighteen, he was apprenticed to the Post Office as a telecommunications engineer.
After National Service
in the early 1950s, he became active in both the Communist Party of Great Britain
and the Post Office Engineering Union
. He left the Communist Party after Nikita Khrushchev
's 1956 secret speech and the Soviet invasion of Hungary. Higgins instead joined the Trotskyist Socialist Labour League, soon leaving to join the Socialist Review Group which became the International Socialists (IS), and becoming the group's Secretary.
By the 1960s, Higgins was a POEU branch secretary and was elected to the union's national executive, but he gave up his union work to become IS's full-time national secretary in the early 1970s. In a burst of internal quarrels in the period 1973-76 he was forced out of the organisation. He was a founder member of the Workers League
, but this organisation soon broke apart. Instead, he built a new life as a journalist, later moving into magazine design
. He remained active as a writer and speaker at left wing meetings up until his death and in 1997 published a memoir, More Years for the Locust.
Papers left by Higgins and Al Richardson have been deposited with Senate House Library, University of London.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
revolutionary socialist and leading member of the International Socialists
International Socialists
International Socialists is the name of a number of Trotskyist organizations.Most organisations using this name are in the International Socialist Tendency...
.
Biography
Born into a working-class family in HarrowHarrow, London
Harrow is an area in the London Borough of Harrow, northwest London, United Kingdom. It is a suburban area and is situated 12.2 miles northwest of Charing Cross...
, Higgins joined the Young Communist League
Young Communist League
The Young Communist League was or is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX was generally taken by all sections of the Communist Youth International.Examples of YCLs:...
at 14. Age eighteen, he was apprenticed to the Post Office as a telecommunications engineer.
After National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in the early 1950s, he became active in both the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
and the Post Office Engineering Union
Post Office Engineering Union
The Post Office Engineering Union was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It represented engineering staff in the Post Office, mostly working in telecommunications....
. He left the Communist Party after Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
's 1956 secret speech and the Soviet invasion of Hungary. Higgins instead joined the Trotskyist Socialist Labour League, soon leaving to join the Socialist Review Group which became the International Socialists (IS), and becoming the group's Secretary.
By the 1960s, Higgins was a POEU branch secretary and was elected to the union's national executive, but he gave up his union work to become IS's full-time national secretary in the early 1970s. In a burst of internal quarrels in the period 1973-76 he was forced out of the organisation. He was a founder member of the Workers League
Workers League (UK)
The Workers League was a small Trotskyist group in Britain.It began as the IS Opposition, formed in 1975 within the International Socialists , and containing many prominent IS members, including Roger Protz and Jim Higgins...
, but this organisation soon broke apart. Instead, he built a new life as a journalist, later moving into magazine design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
. He remained active as a writer and speaker at left wing meetings up until his death and in 1997 published a memoir, More Years for the Locust.
Papers left by Higgins and Al Richardson have been deposited with Senate House Library, University of London.
Selected publications
- Lenin (Socialist WorkerSocialist WorkerSocialist Worker is the name of several socialist/communist newspapers associated with the International Socialist Tendency...
pamphlet) April 1970 - More Years for the Locust IS Group, London, 1997