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. 1 2 MR MARTIN JAMES SMITH directorsintheuk.co.uk, 21 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  2. 1 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. 1 2 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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