Clement James Bundock (20 January 1892 – 8 August 1961) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

trade union 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 ...

leader, newspaper editor and political activist. Born in Wood Green in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Bundock trained as a journalist with the ''Christian Commonwealth''. He then moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

to work for the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

's (ILP) '' Labour Leader'' and joined the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). A supporter of the ILP and particularly of Fenner Brockway, Bundock regularly spoke on behalf of the party, and during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

contributed to its pamphlet, "Why I Am A Conscientious Objector: Being Answers to the Tribunal Catechism". He spent some time in London as the paper's Parliamentary correspondent, before in 1919 becoming editor of the ''Leicester Pioneer''. From 1920 to 1922, Bundock served as the Midlands representative on the

National Administrative Council The National Administrative Council (NAC) was the executive council of the Independent Labour Party (ILP), a British socialist party which was active from 1893 until 1975. Creation The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was founded at a conference in ...

of the ILP. Through the ILP, Bundock was active in the Labour Party, chairing the Leicester Labour Party in 1922, and standing unsuccessfully in Bosworth at the

1922 United Kingdom general election The 1922 United Kingdom general election was held on Wednesday 15 November 1922. It was won by the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law, which gained an overall majority over the Labour Party, led by J. R. Clynes, and ...

. In 1923, he was appointed as full-time National Organiser of the NUJ, a controversial appointment on account of his socialist and pacifist views. He proved immediately successful in the role, particularly in negotiations with employers. During the UK general strike, he tried to get the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

paper, the '' British Worker'', printed in Leicester, but was overruled by the union, which felt that journalists should not undertake any work during the action. Bundock was elected as general secretary of the NUJ in 1937, holding the post until 1952. That year, the

International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries. The IFJ is an associate ...

was re-established, and Bundock became its president. In retirement, he wrote a history of the NUJ, and also one of the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bundock, Clement 1892 births 1961 deaths English newspaper editors English male journalists Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members General secretaries of the National Union of Journalists Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Wood Green English conscientious objectors