Ted Knight 1933-2020, Socialist, Trade Unionist, Labour candidate for Hornsey 1979
I was sorry to read of the death of Ted Knight at 86.
I’ve known Ted Knight in passing since the late 1970s. He came from a (slightly) different part of the left and I always felt he was a little didactic in manner but these are matters of detail for another time.
Knight was vilified in the media, even recently, as ‘Red Ted’ because he was a socialist, a fighter for ordinary people and that never made him popular with the rich and powerful.
As leader of Lambeth Council he was one of those who led the fight against Mrs Thatcher’s rate-capping along with Bernie Grant in Haringey and others and he paid a heavy personal price for it.
He continued being active over the decades and in recent times was very active in Unite Community in South London.
He did however make a foray over the river to stand as the Labour candidate for Hornsey in 1979. There are others who could better tell the story but his selection marked a distinct shift to the left in the Labour Party locally. His Agent was a youthful Jeremy Corbyn, whose own memory of the occasion is here:
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, said: “I first met Ted in the 1970s when he was a determined figure in the London Labour Party and was his agent when he stood in Hornsey in 1979. We were and remained very different characters. But it never stopped us from working together across London.
Despite the outstanding example of Jeremy Corbyn’s beard and Ken Livingstone’s moustache Ted belonged to an earlier generation of left-wing politicians who were determined to remain perpetually clean-shaven.
Ted acquitted himself creditably in the General Election which saw Mrs Thatcher enter No.10. My personal memories of the campaign relate more to chasing the Tory incumbent Hugh Rossi around Crouch End Broadway armed with a megaphone. He never seemed pleased to see me but then he wasn’t seen much in the Constituency.
General election 1979: Hornsey
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Hugh Rossi 20,225 49.37 +6.23
Labour Edward Robert Knight 16,188 39.52 -1.67
Liberal Patrick William O’Brien 4,058 9.91 -3.33
National Front Bruce William Pell 337 0.82 -1.61
Majority 4,037 9.85 +7.89
Turnout 40,964 70.13 +1.61
Conservative hold Swing +3.95
John McDonnell’s obituary is here:
https://www.john-mcdonnell.net/news/2020/03/30/a-giant-of-our-movement/
Don’t mourn, mobilise seems apt but that shouldn’t stop us saluting the efforts Ted Knight made in the labour movement over many decades.
Rest on peace, comrade. We need to follow your example. Stop Labour from becoming “Tory light” again.
Let’s not forget Ted’s contribution to the pensioners’ cause. At the time of his death he was Vice-Chair of Lambeth Pensioners Action Group (LAMPAG) and sat on the Executive Committee of the London Region of the National Pensioners Convention