Alexander Harper Kitson (21 October 1921 – 2 August 1997) was a British

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

and Labour Party official. Kitson grew up in Kirknewton, from where he undertook milk deliveries to Morningside alongside

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

Tam Dalyell Sir Thomas Dalyell, 11th Baronet, , ( ; 9 August 1932 – 26 January 2017), known as Tam Dalyell, was a Scottish Labour Party politician who was a member of the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005. He represented West Lothian from 1962 to 1983, ...

,
Obituary: Alec Kitson
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'', 4 August 1997 He studied at Kirknewton School before becoming a lorry driver. He became an active trade unionist, and a full-time union official from 1945. In 1959, he was elected as General Secretary of the Scottish Commercial Motormen's Union, serving until 1971, when he took the union into a merger with the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

(TGWU)KITSON, Alexander Harper
, ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to ...

'' Kitson chaired the

Scottish Trades Union Congress The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the national trade union centre in Scotland. With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists. The STUC is a separate organisation from the English and Welsh Tr ...

(STUC) in 1966, and was its treasurer from 1974 until 1981. He was also long-term member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, serving from 1968 until 1986, and was the

Chair of the Labour Party The Chair of the Labour Party is a position in the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. The Chair is responsible for administration of the party and overseeing general election campaigns, and is typically held concurrently with another position ...

in 1980–81. He unsuccessfully contested the General Secretaryship of the TGWU in 1977, serving instead its Deputy General Secretary from 1980 until his retirement in 1986. Kitson was known as an admirer of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, a position largely influenced by Abe Moffat. He served on the

World Peace Council The World Peace Council (WPC) is an international organization with the self-described goals of advocating for universal disarmament, sovereignty and independence and peaceful co-existence, and campaigns against imperialism, weapons of mass de ...

as a supporter of

James Lamond James Alexander Lamond (29 November 1928 – 20 November 2007) was a British Labour Member of Parliament who represented Oldham East from 1970 to 1983 and then Oldham Central and Royton from 1983 until he retired at the 1992 general election. ...

, and visited the USSR annually from the 1950s until the 1980s.Darren G. Lilleker, ''Against the Cold War'', p.187 In his spare time, Kitson served on the national council of War on Want, on

Corstorphine Corstorphine (Scottish Gaelic: ''Crois Thoirfinn'') ( ) is an area of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh. Formerly a separate village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, it is now a suburb of the city, having been formally incorporated ...

Community Council, and briefly as chairman of

Heart of Midlothian FC Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Professional Football League. Hearts, the oldest and most successful football club in the Sc ...

. In retirement from his union posts, he also served as chairman of the Board of

Lothian Buses Lothian Buses is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council (through Transport for Edinburgh) owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothian ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitson, Alex 1921 births 1997 deaths Labour Party (UK) officials Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) Deputy general secretaries of the Transport and General Workers' Union