Sir Sidney Ford, MBE (29 August 1909–13 August 1983) was a British trade union leader. Sidney William George Ford was born in Edmonton, London. Ford began working for the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) in 1925. He received his knighthood for his work on

Lord Devlin Patrick Arthur Devlin, Baron Devlin, PC, FBA (25 November 1905 – 9 August 1992) was a British judge and legal philosopher. The second-youngest English High Court judge in the 20th century, he served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from ...

's Docks Inquiry and other T.U.C. (trade union congress). He never worked as a miner, but became Secretary of the Colliery Officials and Staffs Area of the union. He was known for his loyalty to the Labour Party and his opposition to the union's left-wing.Andrew Taylor, ''The NUM and British Politics: 1969–1995'', p.25 The MFGB was refounded as the National Union of Mineworkers. Its president-elect,

Alwyn Machen Joseph Robert Alwyn Machen (3 May 1900''1939 England and Wales Register'' – 2 March 1960) was an English trade union leader who was president of the Yorkshire Area of the National Union of Mineworkers and posthumously elected president of the ...

, died suddenly in March 1960, the same month he was elected. A new presidential election was held, and Ford stood against

Alex Moffat Alexander Everett Moffat (; born March 25, 1982) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live''. He started as a featured player in 2016 and became a main cast member in 2018. Moffat left ''SNL'' in 2022, aft ...

, a Scottish

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. He retired in 1971. For a number of years prior to his death he suffered from Parkinson's disease, and died as a result of this on 13 August 1983 aged 73. He died in Palmers Green, Winchmore Hill, London N.21. Ford's period as leadership was marked by mass pit closures and relatively little resistance. His successor, Joe Gormley, wrote in his autobiography that this passivity led many mineworkers to distrust the white-collar COSA section of the union, which influenced the lack of support for the moderate Trevor Bell, who ran against Arthur Scargill for the leadership in 1981.in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Sidney 1909 births 1983 deaths Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Presidents of the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)