Anthony Mulhearn (24 January 1939 – 7 October 2019) was a British political and trade union campaigner known for being a prominent member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

and its predecessor, the

Militant tendency The Militant tendency, or Militant, was a Trotskyist group in the British Labour Party, organised around the ''Militant'' newspaper, which launched in 1964. In 1975, there was widespread press coverage of a Labour Party report on the infiltrat ...

. A native of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, Mulhearn was a member of the city council from 1984 to 1987 and also held the key role during this time of President of the District Labour Party. With

Peter Taaffe Peter Taaffe (7 April 1942 — 23 April 2025) was a British Marxist Trotskyist political activist and a longtime leader of the Socialist Party and its predecessor, the Militant tendency. Taaffe was the founding editor of the Trotskyist ''Mil ...

, he co-authored a book detailing the struggle of the Liverpool city council called ''Liverpool: A City that Dared to Fight''. Mulhearn's memoirs were published as ''The Making of a Liverpool Militant''.

Early life

Mulhearn was brought up in the downtown Fontenoy Street and Leeds Street area of

Everton, Liverpool Everton is a suburb of north Liverpool, in Merseyside, England, and part of the Liverpool Walton (UK Parliament constituency), Liverpool Walton constituency. It is bordered by Vauxhall, Liverpool, Vauxhall to the west, Kirkdale, Liverpool, Kir ...

, and attended Holy Cross School and Bishop Goss

secondary modern school A secondary modern school () is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupil ...

"The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979", p. 86-7. before working variously as a baker, tailor, trainee ship steward, apprentice cabinet maker, printer, ship's printer with Canadian Pacific, Ford worker, taxi driver, part-time lecturer and civil servant. He joined the Labour Party in 1963 Ian Bradley, "New puritans in pursuit of power", ''The Times'', 10 December 1981, p. 12. and stood as the Labour candidate for the constituency of

Crosby Crosby may refer to: Places Canada *Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario *Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario England *Crosby, Cumbria *Crosby, Lincolnshire *Crosby, Merseyside **Crosby (UK P ...

in the 1979 general election.

Municipal affairs

Mulhearn's involvement with municipal affairs began in March 1980 when he became President of the Liverpool District Labour Party, a body which was responsible for overseeing the activities of Labour councillors on Liverpool city council. In June 1981 he was selected as Labour Party candidate for

Liverpool Toxteth Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, although due to boundary changes the constituency was abolished before the next general election. Mulhearn was elected to Liverpool city council in May 1984 from St Mary's ward.David Walker, "Conciliation: the improbable Mersey sound", ''The Times'', 29 May 1984, p. 14. Mulhearn was a leading member of the controlling group on the city council, and in 1985 played a key role in the budgeting crisis which affected the council. He led the council delegation negotiating with the unions representing council staff when the council, running out of money, decided to issue redundancy notices to its entire workforce in September 1985.Peter Davenport, "Liverpool unions walk out of talks", ''The Times'', 27 September 1985, p. 1. Mulhearn insisted that the council would succeed in getting extra funds from the Government, making the notices unnecessary; he also said that Labour Party leader

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a Welsh politician who was Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 Labour Party le ...

had been speaking "from a position of profound ignorance" when he condemned the move.Hugh Clayton and David Felton, "Liverpool plans to lay off all staff", ''The Times'', 12 October 1985, p. 2. Shortly afterward Mulhearn stood for the Labour candidacy in

Knowsley North Knowsley North was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system. History The constitue ...

, attempting to deselect sitting MP

Robert Kilroy-Silk Robert Michael Kilroy-Silk (born Robert Michael Silk; 19 May 1942) is an English former politician and broadcaster. After a decade as a university lecturer, he served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 1986. He left the ...

Michael Cockerell Michael Roger Lewis Cockerell (born 26 August 1940) is a British broadcaster and journalist. He is the BBC's most established political documentary maker, with a long, Emmy award-winning career of political programmes spanning television and ra ...

, "Who will win this Merseyside showdown?", ''The Times'', 28 October 1985, p. 12. The attempt was unsuccessful but Kilroy-Silk resigned his seat the following year to move into television presenting. In 1986, Mulhearn was expelled from the Labour Party following a series of hearings which the party had begun into the involvement of

supporters. He remained a councillor until March 1987, when the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

rejected the appeals of 47 Liverpool councillors against the district auditor's finding of 'wilful misconduct' in the council's delayed setting of its budget in 1985.

Subsequent campaigning

After leaving Liverpool City Council, Mulhearn (together with

) wrote an account of the period when supporters of Militant were leading the council, published as ''Liverpool: A City that Dared to Fight'' in 1988.. He worked as a

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

driver from 1991 to 2001, and also studied part-time at

Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...

for a combined Social Sciences degree (including history, economics and politics). In 1996 he passed with

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

for his dissertation (on

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

), and was given the prize for "most meritorious mature student". He later worked as an IT support co-ordinator for the

Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, pensions and child maintenance ...

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, while remaining active in politics as a member of Militant's successor the

and a member of the

Campaign for a New Workers' Party The Campaign For A New Workers' Party was an initiative of the Socialist Party of England and Wales that argued for the establishment of a new mass workers' party, involving trade union activists, socialists, anti-capitalists, anti-war and envi ...

.BNP bigots retreat under pressure
, Campaign for a New Workers' Party, accessed 22 July 2009.

Liverpool Mayor Election 2012

Mulhearn stood as a TUSC candidate for

Mayor of Liverpool From 2012 to 2023, the mayor of Liverpool was the executive mayor of the city of Liverpool in England. The office was abolished in 2023 and its functions were replaced with the leader of Liverpool City Council. The mayor of Liverpool was previ ...

on a "6 point programme to defend the working class of Liverpool from cuts to jobs and services". He came fifth, ahead of the Conservative Party candidate.

References

External links

Articles by Tony Mulhearn
- Socialist Party website {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulhearn, Tony 1939 births 2019 deaths Labour Party (UK) councillors in Liverpool Militant tendency supporters Socialist Party (England and Wales) members British taxi drivers Politicians from Liverpool