# National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants

The National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants (NATSOPA) was a British trade union.

## History

Formed as part of the New Unionism movement in September 1889, the union was originally named the Printers' Labourers' Union and was led by George Evans. In 1899, it was renamed the Operative Printers' Assistants Union, and in 1904 it became the National Society of Operative Printers' Assistants, taking the acronym NATSOPA for the first time. In 1911, it assumed its long-term name, the "National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants". By this point, it had 4,722 members, and it grew rapidly, having 25,000 members in 92 branches by 1929.
In 1966, the union merged with the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers, becoming Division 1 of the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT), but in 1970 the failure to agree a common rulebook led to Division 1 leaving to become the National Society of Operative Printers and Media Personnel. In 1972, it merged with the Sign and Display Trade Union, and in 1982 it again merged with SOGAT, on this occasion the merger proving successful.

## Election results

The union sponsored George Isaacs as a Labour Party candidate in each general election and two by-elections between 1918 and 1955.
| Election | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Position |
| 1918 general election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 2,027 | 22.4 | 3 |
| 1922 general election | Gravesend | George Isaacs | 7,180 | 35.6 | 2 |
| 1923 general election | Gravesend | George Isaacs | 9,776 | 43.4 | 1 |
| 1924 general election | Gravesend | George Isaacs | 10,969 | 41.6 | 2 |
| 1927 by-election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 6,167 | 36.9 | 2 |
| 1929 general election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 9,660 | 45.8 | 1 |
| 1931 general election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 7,053 | 35.1 | 2 |
| 1935 general election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 8,007 | 49.8 | 2 |
| 1939 by-election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 5,815 | 57.4 | 1 |
| 1945 general election | Southwark North | George Isaacs | 5,943 | 69.0 | 1 |
| 1950 general election | Southwark | George Isaacs | 35,049 | 68.3 | 1 |
| 1951 general election | Southwark | George Isaacs | 36,586 | 72.3 | 1 |
| 1955 general election | Southwark | George Isaacs | 28,174 | 70.3 | 1 |

## Leadership
### General Secretaries

    1889: George Evans
    1890: Thomas O'Grady
    1897: Michael Vaughan
    1898: Eddie Smith
    1909: George Isaacs
    1948: Harry Good
    1951: Richard Briginshaw
    1975: Owen O'Brien

### Presidents

    1889: James Keep
    1891: Frederick Quinn
    1893: James Keep
    1898: Eddie Smith
    1899: Harry Cook
    1901: J. B. Sullivan
    1904: George Cullen
    1905: J. B. Sullivan
    1907: James Keep
    1910: A. Bispham
    1917: J. C. Mead
    1920: George T. Bevan
    1929: William Plunkett

## Footnotes

* ↑ Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, p.77
* 1 2 Eaton, Jack; Gill, Colin (1981). The Trade Union Directory. London: Pluto Press. pp. 171–176. ISBN 0861043502.
* ↑ Catalogue of the Natsopa archives
* ↑ Parker, James (2017). Trade unions and the political culture of the Labour Party, 1931-1940 (PDF). Exeter: University of Exeter. p. 125.
* ↑ Labour Party, Report of the Twenty-second Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.255-272. Note that this list is of the sanctioned candidates as of June 1922, and there were some changes between this date and the general election.
* ↑ Labour Party, Report of the Annual Labour Party Conference (1927), pp.9–13
* ↑ "List of Labour Candidates and Election Results, May 30th, 1929". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 24–44. 1929.
* ↑ "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, October 27, 1931". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 11–27. 1931.
* ↑ "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, November 14, 1935". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 8–23. 1935.
* ↑ Labour Party, Report of the Annual Labour Party Conference (1945). Affiliations are those as of mid-1945; it is possible that some MPs may have had different sponsors at the time of their election.
* ↑ Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.232-248
* ↑ "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, February 23rd, 1950". Report of the Forty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 179–198. 1950.
* ↑ "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, 25th October, 1951". Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 184–203. 1951.
* ↑ Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.255-275
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Suthers, R. B. (1929). The Story of "NATSOPA". London: NATSOPA. pp. 16–17.