National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants

The National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants (NATSOPA) was a British trade union.

NATSOPA
National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants
Merged intoSociety of Graphical and Allied Trades
Founded1889
Dissolved1982
HeadquartersCaxton House, Borough Road, London
Location
Members
20,877 (1946)[1]
54,464 (1980)[2]
Key people
George Isaacs, Richard Briginshaw
PublicationNATSOPA Journal and Graphic Review[2]
AffiliationsTUC, P&KTF, Labour

History

Formed as part of the New Unionism movement in September 1889, the union was originally named the Printers' Labourers' Union and was led by George Evans. In 1899, it was renamed the Operative Printers' Assistants Union, and in 1904 it became the National Society of Operative Printers' Assistants, taking the acronym NATSOPA for the first time. In 1911, it assumed its long-term name, the "National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants". By this point, it had 4,722 members, and it grew rapidly, having 25,000 members in 92 branches by 1929.

In 1966, the union merged with the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers, becoming Division 1 of the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT), but in 1970 the failure to agree a common rulebook led to Division 1 leaving to become the National Society of Operative Printers and Media Personnel. In 1972, it merged with the Sign and Display Trade Union,[3] and in 1982 it again merged with SOGAT, on this occasion the merger proving successful.

Election results

The union sponsored George Isaacs as a Labour Party candidate in each general election and two by-elections between 1918 and 1955.[4]

ElectionConstituencyCandidateVotesPercentagePosition
1918 general electionSouthwark NorthGeorge Isaacs2,02722.43
1922 general electionGravesendGeorge Isaacs7,18035.62[5]
1923 general electionGravesendGeorge Isaacs9,77643.41
1924 general electionGravesendGeorge Isaacs10,96941.62
1927 by-electionSouthwark NorthGeorge Isaacs6,16736.92[6]
1929 general electionSouthwark NorthGeorge Isaacs9,66045.81[7]
1931 general electionSouthwark NorthGeorge Isaacs7,05335.12[8]
1935 general electionSouthwark NorthGeorge Isaacs8,00749.82[9]
1939 by-electionSouthwark NorthGeorge Isaacs5,81557.41[10]
1945 general electionSouthwark NorthGeorge Isaacs5,94369.01[11]
1950 general electionSouthwarkGeorge Isaacs35,04968.31[12]
1951 general electionSouthwarkGeorge Isaacs36,58672.31[13]
1955 general electionSouthwarkGeorge Isaacs28,17470.31[14]

Leadership

General Secretaries
1889: George Evans
1890: Thomas O'Grady
1897: Michael Vaughan
1898: Eddie Smith
1909: George Isaacs
1948: Harry Good
1951: Richard Briginshaw
1975: Owen O'Brien

Presidents
1889: James Keep[15]
1891: Frederick Quinn[15]
1893: James Keep[15]
1898: Eddie Smith[15]
1899: Harry Cook[15]
1901: J. B. Sullivan[15]
1904: George Cullen[15]
1905: J. B. Sullivan[15]
1907: James Keep[15]
1910: A. Bispham[15]
1917: J. C. Mead[15]
1920: George T. Bevan[15]
1929: William Plunkett[15]

Footnotes
  1. Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, p.77
  2. Eaton, Jack; Gill, Colin (1981). The Trade Union Directory. London: Pluto Press. pp. 171–176. ISBN 0861043502.
  3. Catalogue of the Natsopa archives
  4. Parker, James (2017). Trade unions and the political culture of the Labour Party, 1931-1940 (PDF). Exeter: University of Exeter. p. 125.
  5. Labour Party, Report of the Twenty-second Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.255-272. Note that this list is of the sanctioned candidates as of June 1922, and there were some changes between this date and the general election.
  6. Labour Party, Report of the Annual Labour Party Conference (1927), pp.9–13
  7. "List of Labour Candidates and Election Results, May 30th, 1929". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 24–44. 1929.
  8. "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, October 27, 1931". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 11–27. 1931.
  9. "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, November 14, 1935". Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 8–23. 1935.
  10. Labour Party, Report of the Annual Labour Party Conference (1945). Affiliations are those as of mid-1945; it is possible that some MPs may have had different sponsors at the time of their election.
  11. Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.232-248
  12. "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, February 23rd, 1950". Report of the Forty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 179–198. 1950.
  13. "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, 25th October, 1951". Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 184–203. 1951.
  14. Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.255-275
  15. Suthers, R. B. (1929). The Story of "NATSOPA". London: NATSOPA. pp. 16–17.

References
  • Arthur Marsh, Victoria Ryan and John B. Smethurst, Historical Directory of Trade Unions
  • James Moran, Natsopa: Seventy-five Years


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