Nina Temple
Encyclopedia
Nina Claire Temple was the last Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain
, and was formerly a think-tank director in the United Kingdom
.
member) she joined the Young Communist League
when she was 13, later protesting in London against the Vietnam War. She has a degree in materials science from Imperial College, London.
She is the sister of film director Julien Temple
.
of the Young Communist League and became a prominent member of the Eurocommunist grouping within the party. She became a member of the CPGB executive in 1979, and then a member of the Political Committee in January 1982.
She was the Press and Publicity Officer of the CPGB from January 1983 until 1989, when she became the last (General) Secretary of the party in January 1990, aged 33. She pledged to make the party "feminist and green, as well as democratically socialist." In this role Temple became one of the leading proponents of the dissolution of the CPGB in November 1991 and the founding of its legal successor, the Democratic Left
.
in 1999. Temple was its first director and worked for five years for the Make Votes Count Coalition.
In June 2005 she started work as head of Development and Communications at the Social Market Foundation
, a role she held until 2008.
Temple became ill with Parkinson's disease
in 2000. She trained in counselling at the Gestalt Centre in Old Street, and in September 2003 founded Sing For Joy, a choir of people with chronic degenerative diseases.
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 was formerly a think-tank director in the United Kingdom
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...
.
Early life
Born into a communist family (her father Landon Temple ran Progressive Tours and was a Communist Party of Great BritainCommunist 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:...
member) she joined the Young Communist League
Young Communist League (Britain)
The Young Communist League is the name of both the youth wing of the former Communist Party of Great Britain and the current youth wing of the Communist Party of Britain ; an organisation that sees itself as the successor to the Communist Party of Great Britain.-Original Young Communist League...
when she was 13, later protesting in London against the Vietnam War. She has a degree in materials science from Imperial College, London.
She is the sister of film director Julien Temple
Julien Temple
Julien Temple is an English film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including The Great Rock And Roll Swindle, Absolute Beginners and a documentary film about Glastonbury.-Temple...
.
Communist Party of Great Britain
During the late 1970s she was general secretaryGeneral secretary
-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...
of the Young Communist League and became a prominent member of the Eurocommunist grouping within the party. She became a member of the CPGB executive in 1979, and then a member of the Political Committee in January 1982.
She was the Press and Publicity Officer of the CPGB from January 1983 until 1989, when she became the last (General) Secretary of the party in January 1990, aged 33. She pledged to make the party "feminist and green, as well as democratically socialist." In this role Temple became one of the leading proponents of the dissolution of the CPGB in November 1991 and the founding of its legal successor, the Democratic Left
Democratic Left (United Kingdom)
Democratic Left was a post-communist political organisation in the United Kingdom during the 1990s, growing out of the Eurocommunist strand within the Communist Party of Great Britain and its magazine Marxism Today...
.
Think tanks
The Democratic Left continued through the 1990s, becoming the New Politics NetworkNew Politics Network
The New Politics Network was an independent political and campaigning think tank in the United Kingdom, concerned with democratic renewal and popular participation in politics...
in 1999. Temple was its first director and worked for five years for the Make Votes Count Coalition.
In June 2005 she started work as head of Development and Communications at the Social Market Foundation
Social Market Foundation
The Social Market Foundation is a British public policy think-tank based in Westminster, London. It was set up by supporters of David Owen after the Social Democratic Party was disbanded in the late 1980s. It aims to promote and produce policies supporting the “social market”...
, a role she held until 2008.
Personal life
Temple has two children with a schoolteacher, a daughter born in 1987 and a son born in 1989.Temple became ill with Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
in 2000. She trained in counselling at the Gestalt Centre in Old Street, and in September 2003 founded Sing For Joy, a choir of people with chronic degenerative diseases.