George Lathan

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George Lathan (born August 5, 1875 in Norwich , † June 14, 1942 ) was a British trade unionist and politician ( Labor Party ).

Life and activity

Lathan worked on the British Railways. He became a trade unionist and later joined the Independent Labor Party. In 1906 he was elected President of the Railway Clerks Association, the union of railway officials. He retained this position until he was elected Assistant Secretary (Chief Assistant Secretary) of the Association in 1912. He held this post until 1937.

On the occasion of the general election of 1918 Lathan applied for the first time for a lower house mandate - he ran in the Watford constituency - but was not elected. Candidates in the constituencies of Enfield (1922) and Sheffield Park (1923 and 1924) also ended unsuccessfully. In the 1929 election - which brought Labor a landslide victory - he managed to move into the House of Commons for the Sheffield Park constituency. He lost his seat in the 1931 elections, but was able to return to parliament in the 1935 elections, to which he belonged until his death. After his death, Thomas William Burden took his lower house.

In addition, Lathan was from 1921 to 1936 a member of the Railways National Wages Board and from 1921 to 1937 President of the National Federation of Professional Workers.

Within the Labor Party, Lathan held various functionaries: from 1931 to 1932 he was the successor to Stanley Hirst as Chairman (Chairman) of the Executive Committee of the Labor Party (his successor in this post was Joseph Compton ). And from 1936 until his death he was Arthur Henderson's successor as Treasurer of his party. After his death, this position was transferred to Arthur Greenwood .

Together with Wickham Steed , Lathan published the pamphlet The Nazi Menace (“The Nazi Threat”) in 1936 , in which they warned of the dangers for the rest of Europe from the Nazi regime that came to power in Germany.

The National Socialist police officers classified Lathan as an enemy of the state: in the spring of 1940 he was placed on the special wanted list by the Reich Security Main Office , a list of people who, in the event of a successful invasion and occupation of the British island by the Wehrmacht, would be followed by SS special commands the country should move in, should be located and arrested as a priority.

family

Lathan's younger brother was Charles Latham - who changed his name to avoid confusion with the brother of Lathan in Latham - who served as chairman of the London County Council from 1940 to 1947 . He was raised to the nobility as Baron Latham .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Entry on Lathan on the special wanted list GB (reproduced on the website of the Imperial War Museum in London) .
personal data
SURNAME Lathan, George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British trade unionist and politician (Labor Party)
DATE OF BIRTH August 5, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Norwich
DATE OF DEATH June 14, 1942