Tommy Sheridan

File:Tommy Sheridan Scottish Socialist Party.jpg

Tommy Sheridan

Tommy Sheridan is a Scottish socialist politician. Born in Glasgow, Scotland on March 7, 1964 he is a graduate of the University of Stirling. He was active in the Militant Tendency faction inside the Labour Party, before leaving Labour as a member of Scottish Militant Labour (SML). He was a leading campaigner against the poll tax in Scotland, and was jailed for six months for trying to stop a warrant sale taking place.

Sheridan fought two elections while in prison. In the Pollok constituency at the 1992 General Election he won one of the best votes for a left candidate for many years, and a few weeks later he won the Pollok ward on Glasgow City Council. He also contested the European Parliament election in 1994 as an SML candidate.

He was a leading figure in the negotiations to establish the Scottish Socialist Alliance in 1996, which evolved into the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) in 1998. He was the convenor of the SSP from its formation until November 11 2004 when he resigned as convenor for personal reasons. He was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 as a Glasgow representative.

He has been jailed twice as a consequence of his activities campaigning against the presence of the nuclear fleet at Faslane Naval Base.

Sheridan is known as an articulate and able orator. In his period as convenor of the SSP he has seen his party's representation in the Scottish Parliament increase from just himself to six members after the 2003 Election.

On November 11, 2004 he announced his resignation as convenor of the SSP to concentrate on spending more time with his family. At the time of his announcement his wife, Gail, was expecting their first child, and this was the reason Sheridan cited as being his primary motivation for resigning.

The resignation was followed by allegations in the News of the World that Sheridan had been conducting an extra-marital affair. Sheridan denies the allegations and has announced his intention to sue the tabloid. The Executive Committee of the SSP recommended that Sheridan pursue a political response to the allegations and argue that they are designed to undermine the SSP and Sheridan.

At the annual conference of the SSP in 2005 in Perth Sheridan was elected to the SSP executive, coming top of the poll for the executive male list, although only narrowly ahead of Alan McCombes.

Sheridan comes from a well-known family of Trotskyists from Glasgow and was a prominent member of the Militant/RSL whilst a student at Stirling University. After graduating he went to Cardonald College as a typing student as part of the Militant/RSL (unsuccessful) drive to take-over Scottish Labour Students through building a presence in further education colleges.

As the highest profile Militant/RSL member in Scotland Sheridan was a leading figure in the split in that party in the late 1980s. Faced with a Labour Party leadership under Neil Kinnock that was determined to expel the Trotskyists and emboldened by the success of the campaign against the poll tax, many Militant/RSL members - particularly in Scotland - argued for the abandonment of entryism.

The argument was resolved in favour of those who backed Sheridan's arguments and Ted Grant was expelled from the RSL. However the momentum of the Scots was such that eventually they left the Militant/RSL behind and Sheridan has now severed all links with the Committee for a Workers' International, though the CWI has a small faction within the SSP.

In the late 1990s, Sheridan juggled his political career with another of his passions, Football, playing for junior teams East Kilbride Thistle F.C., and St Anthony's F.C. in the Abercorn Central District League.

External links

• BBC News: Sheridan resigns as SSP leader
• EdinburghSucks.com: Stories on Tommy Sheridan