Hugh Scanlon

• Born in 26th October 1913 in Melbourne
• Died at the age of 90 ‘27th January 2004’
• emigrated to England at the age of two
• He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1937. Became a union official in 1947
• Left the party in 1954 but continued as a 'broad left' candidate and won the leadership in 1968
• Him and Jack Jones were named 'The Terrible Twins' for their opposition to the Labour and Conservative governments in their effort to restrict the power of the unions
• They were the key movers within the union movement
• Like Jones, he opposed Britain’s membership in the EEC
• In 1979 he was elevated to the House of Lords

Jack Jones

• Born 29th March 1913 in Roltherham
• Died at the age of 96 ‘21 April 1986’
• He was a British Trade Union Leader and General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union
• During his early years, he served during the war
• Strongly opposed fascism and was converted to socialism by reading the book ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’ by Robert Tressell
• After serving in the War, Jones became a full time official of the TGWU in Coventry
• Elected its General Secretary in 1968
• Together with Hugh Scanlan, he led the left wing trade union opposition to the 1966-1970 Labour Government with Wilson at its helm
• Member of the National Economic Development Council between 1969-1978
• he went against Britain leaveing the EEC in the 1975 referendum, the 28 day cooling off period
• In January 1977 an opinion poll found that 54% of the public thought Jones was the most influential person in Britain.
• Accused of spying to the Russians for money but an accusation wasn’t proved.