Martin Smith (activist)

Martin James Smith (born October 1963[1]) is a British political activist. He is a former National Secretary of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), a position he held from 2004 until January 2011.[2] He is reported to have left the SWP in 2013 following accusations of the rape of a much younger female member of the party.[3]

Smith joined the SWP in the 1980s and eventually become a member of the Central Committee. He was involved in disrupting talks at Acas in May 2010 between British Airways and the Unite trade union which he defended on Channel 4 News.[4] He has also been involved at a senior level in Unite Against Fascism and Love Music Hate Racism.[5][6][7] In September 2010, he was convicted of an assault on a police officer during the protest in October 2009 against British National Party leader Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time. He was sentenced to a 12-month community order.[8]

Smith is a former Director of Sherborne Publications Limited,[1] the company that publishes the Socialist Worker, and of Love Music Hate Racism.[9] At the National Conference in January 2011, he left the post of National Secretary of the SWP in favour of Charlie Kimber,[2] who remains in this position.

Smith has been named as "Comrade Delta", accused of sexual assault and rape of women who were members of the SWP.[10][11][12] According to Alex Callinicos and Dave Renton, disagreement within the party following this incident led to the resignation of 700 SWP members.[13][12]

Selected publications
  • John Coltrane: Jazz, racism and resistance, the extended version. Redwords, 2003. ISBN 9781872208220
  • Frank Sinatra: When ole blue eyes was a red. London: Bookmarks Publications, 2005. ISBN 9781905192021
  • Why "British jobs for British workers" won't solve the crisis: Why we need jobs for all. London: Bookmarks Publications, 2009. ISBN 9781905192489

References
  1. MR MARTIN JAMES SMITH directorsintheuk.co.uk, 21 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  2. Manson, Peter (6 January 2011). "Another one bites the dust". Weekly Worker. No. 847. Archived from the original on 30 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  3. Malik, Shiv; Cohen, Nick (9 March 2013). "Socialist Workers Party leadership under fire over rape kangaroo court". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  4. "BA's Willie Walsh 'trying to divide Unite'". Channel 4 News. 23 May 2010. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  5. Geoghegan, Kev (25 April 2008). "New bands team up to fight racism". Newsbeat. BBC Radio 1. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  6. Billet, Alexander (16 August 2012). "The music of racist hate". SocialistWorker.org. International Socialist Organization. Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  7. Smith, Viv (9 November 2010). "Thousands march against racism". Socialist Worker (UK). No. 2227. Socialist Workers Party. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  8. Martin Smith - 'I will appeal and clear my name' Archived 11 January 2014 at the Wayback MachineSocialist Worker, 9 September 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  9. Companies House
  10. Downes, Julia (2017). ""It's Not the Abuse That Kills You, It's the Silence": The silencing of sexual violence activism in social justice movements in the UK Left" (PDF). Justice, Power & Resistance. 1 (2). Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  11. "Crisis in the SWP, or: Weiningerism in the UK". Datacide. 12 October 2013. Archived from the original on 19 March 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  12. Renton, David (22 May 2016). "Why I don't buy Socialist Worker". lives; running. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  13. Callinicos, Alex (26 June 2014). Callinicos, Alex (ed.). "Thunder on the left". International Socialism. London (143). Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
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