Kenneth Bruce Ashton (9 November 1925 – 8 September 2002) was a British journalist and trade union leader.

Early life and education

Ashton grew up in London, where he attended the Latymer Upper School before serving in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

from 1942. Stationed in Scotland for much of this time, he attended a course at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, and took some casual work as a subeditor with the '' Daily Record''. He was demobbed in 1946, and became a journalist with the '' Hampstead and Highgate Express'', then worked successively for the '' Devon and Somerset News'', the '' Mansfield Reporter'' and the ''

Sheffield Star ''The Star'', often known as the ''Sheffield Star'', is a daily newspaper published in Sheffield, England, from Monday to Saturday each week. Originally a broadsheet, the newspaper became a tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid in 1993. ''The Sta ...

''. In 1958, he became a subeditor with the '' Sheffield Telegraph'', then held the same post at the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' and finally the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

''.

Trade unionism

Ashton was a long-term member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), and was elected to its executive in 1968. He became the union's president in 1975, but had to stand down shortly afterwards as he began working full-time for the union as its

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 ...

regional organiser. In 1977, he was elected as the union's general secretary. Ashton's time as leader of the NUJ was difficult. The union became involved in an increasing number of disputes, something Ashton was unhappy about, and this led him to face increasing criticism from union members. A member critical of him was elected as his deputy. In 1985, he took early retirement, relocating to the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

, where he became a volunteer warden. From 1982 to 1986, Ashton also served as president of 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Ken 1925 births 2002 deaths British Army personnel of World War II Journalists from London General secretaries of the National Union of Journalists People educated at Latymer Upper School Trade unionists from London Presidents of the National Union of Journalists