Jack Richard Boddy (23 August 1922 – 9 March 2004) 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. Born in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

to a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

family, Boddy was educated at the

City of Norwich School The City of Norwich School, more commonly known as CNS, is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Norwich, England. History In 1910, the Education Committee decided to merge the King Edward VI Middle School in ...

. He hoped to become a

veterinary surgeon Veterinary surgery is surgery performed on non-human animals by veterinarians, whereby the procedures fall into three broad categories: orthopaedics (bones, joints, muscles), soft tissue surgery (skin, body cavities, cardiovascular system, GI/u ...

, but his parents could not afford the tuition, so he instead became a cowhand on a local farm. He also became active in the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers (NUAAW), and in 1943 he was promoted to become farm supervisor.Barry Leathwood,
Obituary: Jack Boddy
, ''

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 ...

'', 15 March 2004 In 1953, Boddy was appointed as the NUAAW's full-time organiser for

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

. In 1960, he moved to become the Norfolk district organiser, serving until 1978, when he was elected as the union's general secretary, defeating Arthur Leary, Len Pike and Jim Watts in a keenly-fought contest.Jack Boddy
, ''

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 publis ...

'', 24 March 2004 In contrast to his predecessors, he was seen as a left-winger. On taking over, he realised that the union was close to financial collapse. He initially focused on recruiting new members while cutting costs without laying off staff. However, these measures were insufficient, and he negotiated 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 union, general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900 ...

; although this was highly controversial, it was ultimately approved by members, with a landslide majority. During this period, Boddy was also active in local politics, representing the Labour Party on

Norfolk County Council Norfolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for Norfolk, England. Below it there are seven second-tier district councils: Breckland District, Breckland, Broadland, Borough of Great Yarmouth, Great Yarmo ...

. He also served on 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 ...

from 1978 until 1983, on the

European Economic and Social Committee The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a consultative body of the European Union (EU) established in 1958. It is an advisory assembly composed of representatives from employers' organization, employers' associations, workers' unio ...

, and on the Industrial Injuries Advisory Committee.Boddy, Jack Richard
, ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'' The merger took place in 1982, and Boddy became the Group Secretary of the TGWU's new Agricultural and Allied Workers Trade Group. He retired in 1987, returning to local politics by serving on

Breckland District Council Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Birds Directive, Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conser ...

and

Swaffham Swaffham () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District and England, English county of Norfolk. It is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and in the U ...

Town Council. He served as Mayor of Swaffham in 1991/1992, and only retired from the council in 2003. Disillusioned by the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, he then resigned from the Labour Party. He died the following year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boddy, Jack 1922 births 2004 deaths Councillors in Norfolk Labour Party (UK) councillors General secretaries of the National Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Members of Norfolk County Council People educated at the City of Norwich School Union leaders from Norwich English Quakers