Bill Lauchlan

William Lauchlan (10 May 1916 November 2010) was a Scottish communist activist.

Educated to secondary school level,[1] A Plasterer to trade, Lauchlan joined the Independent Labour Party in Irvine, Ayrshire 1933, then in 1935 switched to the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).[2] He quickly rose to prominence, serving as Lanarkshire Organiser in the 1940s,[3] then becoming Scottish District Secretary in about 1951,[4] then in the 1960s served as National Organiser.[1]

He was also active on Glasgow Trades Council, and in 1946 represented it at the Scottish Trades Union Congress.[4]

Lauchlan stood for the CPGB in Glasgow Govan at the 1950 general election, then in West Fife in 1951, 1955, 1959 and 1964, although he was never elected.[1] Following his retirement from being a full-time officer within the CPGB, Lauchlan returned to Glasgow in 1968 and worked for Scottish Homes in Glasgow and Edinburgh until his retirement in 1981. In retirement, he worked as a Volunteer with the Citizens Advice Bureau in Livingston, having moved to the New Town in West Lothian/Midlothian in 1972.

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Times House of Commons (1964), p.214
  2. The Times House of Commons (1950), p.199
  3. The Word, Vols. 2-8, p.40
  4. 1 2 The Times House of Commons (1951), p.199
Party political offices
Preceded by
John Gollan
Secretary of the Scottish District of the Communist Party of Great Britain
1947 1956
Succeeded by
Gordon McLennan
Preceded by
John Gollan
National Organiser of the Communist Party of Great Britain
1956 1966
Succeeded by
Gordon McLennan
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