Socialist Labour Party
Which party was J. T. Murphy a member of from 1916 to 1920?
J . T . Murphy John Thomas Jack Murphy ( 9 December 1888 – 13 May 1965 ) , best known as J . T . Murphy , was a British trade union organiser and Communist functionary . Murphy is best remembered as a top leader of the communist labour movement in the United Kingdom from the middle 1920s until his resignation from the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1932 . Biography . Early years . J.T . Murphy , known to his peers as Jack , was born in 9 December 1888 in the Gorton district of Greater Manchester , England . His father , a Roman Catholic , worked as a blacksmith , while his Protestant mother worked as a baker of bread and cakes . Murphy helped with the family finances from the age of 7 , initially selling his mothers baked goods before taking a job working as an assistant on a milk delivery route . Murphy began working at an engineering works in an entry-level capacity in 1901 , soon moving into a formal engineering apprenticeship , in which he remained until 1908 . Thereafter Murphy worked as an engineer in his own right , remaining as a worker at the bench until 1918 . He became active in the Amalgamated Society of Engineers and was active in the Sheffield wing of the Shops Stewards Movement , which emerged in engineering factories during the First World War . Communist functionary . Murphy joined the Socialist Labour Party ( SLP ) in 1916 and stood as a candidate in the 1918 General Election for the Gorton constituency in Manchester . He was elected to the governing Executive Committee of the SLP , in which capacity he participated in unity discussions between the various revolutionary socialist groups which had emerged in the country . The SLP split at this juncture , with Murphy and others leaving the old organisation to join the Communist Party of Great Britain at its formation in 1920 . In January 1920 Murphy traveled illegally to Soviet Russia , where he attended with John S . Clarke , Helen Crawfurd , Williie Gallacher , Wlliam McLaine , Sylvia Pankhurst , Marjory Newbold , Tom Quelch , Dave Ramsay and Jack Tanner at the 2nd World Congress of the Comintern as delegate for the Shop Stewards Movement . Murphy also was a delegate to the First World Congress of the Red International of Labor Unions ( RILU ) in July 1921 , which elected him a member of the organisations Executive Committee . Murphy was also elected as a delegate of the CPGB to the Third and Fourth World Congresses of the Communist International , held in Moscow in 1921 and 1922 , respectively . In 1925 Murphy was one of twelve CPGB officials imprisoned for seditious libel and incitement to mutiny under the 1797 Incitement to Mutiny Act . In the trial which followed , Murphy was sentenced to a term of six months in prison , gaining release in 1926 . Murphy was active in the National Minority Movement , the British section of RILU , from the time of its formation in 1924 . He was also a member of the Executive Committee of CPGB from its formation in 1920 until Murphys resignation from the party in 1932 . Post-communist years . Murphy resigned from the CPGB in 1932 . After leaving the communist movement , Murphy joined the Labour Party and was elected to the executive of their branch in Islington . Then in April 1933 he joined the Socialist League , becoming general secretary of that organisation later in the year . He would retain that position until his resignation from the Socialist League in 1936 , opposing its call for the CPGB to be permitted to affiliate to the Labour Party . He became a founder of and full-time organiser for the Peoples Front Propaganda Committee , which aimed to unite members of all parties against fascism and the British governments indifference to or appeasement of it . He spoke in favour of this policy at Labours 1939 conference , but was heavily defeated , and the committee soon dissolved . The Second World War broke out shortly afterwards , and Murphy returned to work as a turner , also becoming a shop steward again for the AEU . He argued in favour of the Hitler–Stalin pact on the grounds that , he believed , Stalin had no choice in order to buy time . Later in the war , he lectured to troops on political matters , and wrote three books supporting Stalin and the Soviet Union . After the war , Murphy stopped all formal political activity , spending much of his time writing company histories , including one of Marks and Spencer and one of Sainsburys . Following Stalins death , he renounced Marxism and , later , wrote an article detailing his thoughts on the subject for the New Reasoner . Death and legacy . J . T . Murphy died on 13 May 1965 aged 76 . His son , Edward , was a first-class cricketer and doctor . Works . - The Workers Committee : An Outline of Its Principles and Structure . ( 1917 ) - First Year of the Lenin School ( 1927 ) - The Labour Government : An Examination of Its Record . ( 1930 ) - Preparing for Power : A Critical Study of the History of the British Working Class Movement . ( 1934 ) - New Horizons . ( 1941 ) - Stalin , 1879-1944 . ( 1945 ) - Labours Big Three : A Biographical Study of Clement Attlee , Herbert Morrison and Ernest Bevin . ( 1948 ) External links . - J . T . Murphy Archive , Marxists Internet Archive .