Arthur Scargill - Role in the National Union of Mineworkers, Founding of the Socialist Labour Party

Trade unionist, born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, N England, UK. He became president of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1981, and a member of the Trades Union Congress General Council. He is primarily known for his strong, Socialist defence of British miners that has often brought his union into conflict with the government, most particularly during the miners' strike (1984–5), and when British Coal announced the closure of most deep-mine collieries in 1992.

Arthur Scargill (born January 11, 1938) was the leader of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1981 to 2000 and is presently (2006) the leader of the Socialist Labour Party, a political party he founded in 1996.

Scargill was born in Worsbrough Dale, just south of Barnsley, the son of Harold Scargill, a miner and a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Scargill became president of the NUM in 1981, with Mick McGahey as vice-president.

Role in the National Union of Mineworkers

During his period as President of the Yorkshire region of the NUM, Scargill became popular. In the 1981 election for NUM President, Scargill secured around 70% of the vote. Scargill's platform gave greater scope for the approval of militancy within the union.

Scargill was a very controversial figure for his outspokenness and the tactics he utilized. After the miner's strike he was elected to lifetime Presidency of the NUM by an overwhelming national majority in a very controversial election where some of the alternative candidates claimed that they were given very little time to prepare. His stand both for the future of the mining industry and the communities dependent on it and against the policies of the Thatcher Government led to his leadership of the 1984-1985 miners' strike. This ended in a shattering defeat for the miners and saw a split in the union (see also Union of Democratic Mineworkers). The strike is generally seen as a major defeat for the National Union of Mineworkers and the trade union movement generally.

The media characterised the 1984-5 action as "Scargill's strike", believing that he had been looking for any excuse to go on strike ever since becoming union president. This portrayal may not be wholly accurate, as the strike began when miners walked out in Yorkshire, rather than when Scargill called for action. The decision not to hold a ballot of members was seen as an erosion of democracy within the union by Scargill, but the role of ballots in decision-making had been made very unclear after previous leader, Joe Gormley, had ignored two ballots over wage reforms and his decisions had been upheld after appeals to court were made.

An objective assessment of Scargill is arguably impossible, given his close association with one side of a very divisive conflict in British politics, the 1984-1985 miners' strike. His opponents would be likely to characterise him as a marginalised politician out of touch with popular politics, losing a long and ultimately futile miners strike, splitting the National Union of Miners and destroying the international competitiveness of deep mined coal. A left-wing assessment would characterise the strike as necessary, the split in the National Union of Miners as being the fault of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers, the decline in the coal industry as being the result of a government whose priority was attacking trade unionism, and his unpopularity compared to more centrist left-wing politicians as being a result of his willingness to stick to his principles even if they were unpopular. On the appointment of Ian MacGregor as head of the Coal Board in 1983, Scargill stated, "The policies of this government are clear - to destroy the coal industry and the NUM" . During the strike, Scargill constantly claimed that the government had a long term strategy to decimate the industry and that it listed pits that it wanted to close each year;

Founding of the Socialist Labour Party

He founded the Socialist Labour Party after the Labour Party abandoned the original wording of Clause IV in its constitution. Scargill had long criticized Poland's Solidarity trade union movement for its destabilisation of socialism, as he saw it.

In the film Brassed Off, the union leader played by Christopher Tetlow bears a very strong resemblance to Scargill.

The novelist David Peace is a defender of Scargill.