The awkward squad was an informal grouping of socialist
trade unionists
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
The group arose in the early 2000s when seven leaders of smaller trade unions who held membership of the
General Council of the Trades Union Congress The General Council of the Trades Union Congress is an elected body which is responsible for carrying out the policies agreed at the annual British Trades Union Congresses (TUC).
Organisation
The council has 56 members, all of whom must be proposed ...
began meeting to discuss common positions with respect to larger unions. The group shared left-wing views and began co-operating on broader political and industrial matters,
Francis Beckett
Francis Beckett (born 12 May 1945) is an English author, journalist, biographer, playwright and contemporary historian. He has written biographies of Aneurin Bevan, Clement Attlee, Harold Macmillan, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. He has also written ...
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 29 October 2002 opposing what they regarded as the
economically liberal
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism, ...
policies of the ruling
New Labour
New Labour is the political philosophy that dominated the history of the British Labour Party from the mid-late 1990s to 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The term originated in a conference slogan first used by the ...
faction of the Labour Party. It included such figures as
Bob Crow
Robert Crow (13 June 1961 – 11 March 2014) was an English trade union leader who served as the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) from 2002 until his death in 2014. He was also a member of ...
Mark Serwotka
Mark Henryk Serwotka (; born 26 April 1963) is a retired trade unionist who was General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the largest trade union representing British civil servants. He was President of the Trades Unio ...
NUJ. The term was coined by journalist Kevin Maguire in an article in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' in 2001.
The awkward squad was split between those who wish to "reclaim" the Labour Party for
socialism
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
, and those who want to break with Labour and try to build a new socialist movement. Some of the latter supported other parties, including the
Scottish Socialist Party
The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an Scottish independence, independent Socialism, socialist Scottish Scottish republicanism, republic.
The party was fou ...
and the
Respect Party
The Respect Party was a left-wing to far-left socialist political party active in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2016. At the height of its success in 2007, the party had one Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons and nineteen ...
. The group soon became less closely knit, with two members losing their union posts: in July 2003,
Mick Rix
Mick Rix (born 11 April 1963 in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire) is a British trade unionist and politician.
Union career
Rix is the former General Secretary of ASLEF. He left school at 16 and started work the next day with no qualifications. ...
of
ASLEF
The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) is a British trade union representing drivers of trains including services such as the London Underground (Tube). It is part of the International Transport Workers' Federation ...
was ousted by the moderate
Shaun Brady
Shaun Brady is a British trade unionist who was general secretary of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF), the train drivers' trade union in Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Oc ...
, while two years later, Andy Gilchrist, a member of the "reclaim Labour" grouping, was ousted by
Matt Wrack
Matthew D. Wrack (born 23 May 1962) is a British trade unionist and former firefighter. He served as General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) from May 2005 to January 2025. He is presently Acting General Secretary of the NASUWT teachi ...
, who is more inclined towards building a new party.
In an article published in the ''British Journal of Industrial Relations'', Andy Charlwood noted that the "awkward squad" represented a generational change of leadership in the union movement, with the union leaders who had guided the movement through the era of
Thatcherism
Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character a ...
and the building of New Labour stepping down at the start of the 21st century and being replaced by a new cohort who were dissatisfied with New Labour due to a variety of factors: what they saw as New Labour's lack of guiding political principles, absence of a vision for the role of trade unions in civil society, privileging of employers and employers' organisations in policy making, adoption of a
political economy
Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...
which was hostile to organised labour, concerns regarding restricting public spending growth whilst investing in public services, and the failure of Labour Party leaders to provide more than rhetorical support for the strategy of industrial partnership advocated by the previous moderate generation of leaders such as
John Monks
John Stephen Monks, Baron Monks (born 5 August 1945) is a Labour Co-operative member of the House of Lords and former trade unionist leader, who served as the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the UK from 1993 until 2003. ...
, Ken Jackson and John Edmonds.
Gilchrist has said that "It's a well-known secret that many of us meet up to discuss. We'll support each other on specific issues and follow each other's lead."
However, several of leaders characterised as members of the "awkward squad" rejected the label, such as Derek Simpson, Kevin Curran (who described his views as "sensible left"), and Billy Hayes, who described the phrase as "condescending, inaccurate and unhelpful".
Members
*
Bob Crow
Robert Crow (13 June 1961 – 11 March 2014) was an English trade union leader who served as the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) from 2002 until his death in 2014. He was also a member of ...
Andy Gilchrist
Andrew Charles Gilchrist (born 5 December 1960) is a British trade unionist and former firefighter who served as the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union from 2000 to 2005.
Early life
Gilchrist was born the son of Edward and Shirley Gi ...
Dave Prentis
David Prentis, Baron Prentis of Leeds (born 29 May 1948) is a British trade unionist and former General Secretary of UNISON, the United Kingdom's largest trade union. He was originally elected in 2000. He was re-elected in March 2005 with 77% ...
(
UNISON
Unison (stylised as UNISON) is a Great Britain, British trade union. Along with Unite the Union, Unite, Unison is one of the two largest trade unions in the United Kingdom, with over 1.2 million members who work predominantly in public servic ...
)
*
Mick Rix
Mick Rix (born 11 April 1963 in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire) is a British trade unionist and politician.
Union career
Rix is the former General Secretary of ASLEF. He left school at 16 and started work the next day with no qualifications. ...
(
ASLEF
The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) is a British trade union representing drivers of trains including services such as the London Underground (Tube). It is part of the International Transport Workers' Federation ...
)
*
Mark Serwotka
Mark Henryk Serwotka (; born 26 April 1963) is a retired trade unionist who was General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the largest trade union representing British civil servants. He was President of the Trades Unio ...
Tony Woodley
Anthony Woodley, Baron Woodley (born 2 January 1948) is a British people, British trade unionist who was the Joint-Unite the Union, General Secretary of Unite, a union formed through the merger of Amicus (trade union), Amicus and the Transport an ...
( T&G)
Other trade union leaders associated with the group included:
*
Matt Wrack
Matthew D. Wrack (born 23 May 1962) is a British trade unionist and former firefighter. He served as General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) from May 2005 to January 2025. He is presently Acting General Secretary of the NASUWT teachi ...
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
Breakfast with Frost
''Breakfast with Frost'' is a Sunday morning BBC current affairs programme hosted by Sir David Frost. It covered the main political news of the day, with Frost interviewing key figures in the world of politics, and celebrity guests reviewing th ...
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...