Peter Ainsley
Our long time comrade Peter Ainsley died peacefully last Tuesday morning. He had been unwell for some time and unable to do much politically.
But he remained a political fighter, thinker and supporter of the desperate need for a better world.
Brought up in Wales, he came to London as a student at the London School of Economics in 1967, a time of massive upheaval. With opposition to the war in Vietnam, followed by the May ’68 events in Paris, this was one of the most political times for students to be organising.
This was a massive learning curve for Peter and thousands of others, and he carried the political understanding from that time throughout his life.
Peter left university and came to work for Camden Council. He was instrumental in changing the union—NALGO, which became Unison—from a moribund group of branch officers into a shop stewards organisation. He edited the national rank and file newsletter of the time and carried on producing brilliant political union newsletters until he retired.
Throughout his time, he was a stalwart of the trade union movement. There was a SWP Camden Workers branch for many years that grew massively. When we went into local branches in the mid-1980’s, there were around 30 members in Camden Council.
Peter joined various branches over the following years, Westminster, King’s Cross and Haringey. Great memories have flooded in from comrades and friends across the many political organisations he was involved with.
Peter was passionate about the environment, and became an early advocate for a movement against climate change
He doggedly raised the climate emergency whenever he could, his bag always full of the latest pamphlets and leaflets just in case he came across someone who could be convinced.
Peter was instrumental in committing Unison to its early climate policies. Trade union climate campaigners today have written to us, reminding us about how Peter facilitated conferences, meetings and events for the then newly formed Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union group.
He was always someone to patiently explain and argue because of his deep political knowledge—he read copiously! But he never sought the limelight. Educate, agitate and organise was what he did!
Peter was a good friend, a great cook, an avid gardener and a big jazz fan. Many of us remember the great parties he threw when he shared a house with his old friend Kate in Tottenham. He will be sorely missed by many.
John Mann, Phoebe Watkins, Liz Wheatley
