Finlay Hart (1901 – 27 December 1989) was a Scottish

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician. Born in Clydebank, Hart attended Clydebank High School.''The Times House of Commons: 1959'', p.200 He became politically active when he joined the Workers International Industrial Union in 1915 while working at the

William Beardmore and Company William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 peo ...

shipyard, in Dalmuir. Part of the Red Clydeside movement, in 1917, he joined the Socialist Labour Party, and he was part of the majority from that party who founded the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

(CPGB). In 1923, he emigrated to

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

in Canada in an attempt to find work, joining the Communist Party of Canada, but he returned to Clydebank in Scotland by 1926, where he worked as a

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, hot-water production, sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

."Comrade Finlay Hart's 50th Birthday", ''World News and Views'' (1951), p.146 In 1934, Hart was a leading figure in a Glasgow to London hunger march. The following year, he was elected as the first communist councillor in Clydebank, although he resigned in 1937 to move to London and become National Industrial Organiser for the CPGB. He also held various District Secretary posts for the party: Scotland in 1935, the North Midlands from 1939 to 1940, and

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

from 1940 to 1942. Hart was a delegate to the Seventh Congress of the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

in Moscow."Top Scots Communist", '' Glasgow Herald'', 28 December 1989 Hart stood for parliament on three occasions, West Dunbartonshire in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

, and Glasgow Springburn in 1955 and 1959, but was never elected. During the 1950s, Hart served as Chairman of the Scottish Committee of the CPGB. Hart was subsequently re-elected to Clydebank Town Council, and also to Dunbartonshire County Council. He retired from his party posts in 1963, but later became Provost of ClydebankFinlay Hart
, Compendium of Communist Biography and participated in the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Finlay 1901 births 1989 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain councillors Communist Party of Canada politicians Councillors in Scotland People from Clydebank Provosts in Scotland Scottish communists Socialist Labour Party (UK, 1903) members People educated at Clydebank High School