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Harry Pollitt (born 22 November 1890) is a British politician who has served as the British Foreign Secretary since 1931. A member of the Labour Party, he has been the Member of the Trade Union Congress (MC) of the Boilermakers' Society since 1927. He concurrently serves as General Secretary of the Syndicalist Workers League, serving since 1929 and sits on its Political Committee. He previously served as the Chairman of National Federation Revolutionary Syndicates from 1926 to 1931, the National Organiser of the SWL from 1926 to 1929 and the National Organiser of the Syndicalist Party of Great Britain from 1921 until its dissolution in 1924. A member of the Mannite wing of the SWL and of the "Federationist Caucus", Pollitt identifies as an adherent of Mannism and has been associated with an increasing trend of partisan disciplinarianism and political authoritarianism within the Labour Party.
A long-time socialist activist, Pollitt began his career in socialist politics as a teenager by helping establish an Openshaw branch of the British Socialist Party, later becoming active in the Syndicalist Party of Great Britain. Pollitt would serve as its National Organiser, one of its first salaried members, and sit on its Political Bureau. As a leading figure of the syndicalist and trade union movements, Pollitt would be arrested numerous times during strike action and was controversially imprisoned at the beginning of the 1924 General Strike. With outbreak of armed conflict, Pollitt and numerous other political prisoners were able to escape their imprisonment and Pollitt would briefly serve as a political officer for the rebel forces and later as a leading propagandist for the nascent Union of Britain, a role that would dominate his time in the conflict. Following victory in the Civil War, Pollitt would help establish the SPGB's de facto successor, the Syndicalist Workers League and once more serve as National Organiser, concurrently serving as Chairman of the National Federation of Revolutionary Syndicates, the successor to the National Minority Movement. After securing election as the SWL's General Secretary in 1929, he briefly attempted to contest the Chairmanship as a Syndicalist Workers candidate, in preparation for the 1931 elections but opted not to run against his long-time friend and political mentor, Tom Mann. Following his victory in the 1931 general election, Mann would offer Pollitt the role of Foreign Secretary.
Early life[]
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