Alexander Harper Kitson (21 October 1921 – 2 August 1997) was a British trade unionist and Labour Party official.

Kitson grew up in Kirknewton, from where he undertook milk deliveries to Morningside alongside Sean Connery.[1] He studied at Kirknewton School before becoming a lorry driver. He became an active trade unionist, and a full-time union official from 1945. In 1959, he was elected as General Secretary of the Scottish Commercial Motormen's Union, serving until 1971, when he took the union into a merger with the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU)[2]

Kitson chaired the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) in 1966, and was its treasurer from 1974 until 1981. He was also long-term member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, serving from 1968 until 1986, and was the Chair of the Labour Party in 1980–81.[2] He unsuccessfully contested the General Secretaryship of the TGWU in 1977, serving instead its Deputy General Secretary from 1980 until his retirement in 1986.[1]

Kitson was known as an admirer of the Soviet Union, a position largely influenced by Abe Moffat. He served on the World Peace Council as a supporter of James Lamond, and visited the USSR annually from the 1950s until the 1980s.[3]

In his spare time, Kitson served on the national council of War on Want, on Corstorphine Community Council, and briefly as chairman of Heart of Midlothian FC.[2] In retirement from his union posts, he also served as chairman of the Board of Lothian Buses.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tam Dalyell, "Obituary: Alec Kitson", The Independent, 4 August 1997
  2. 1 2 3 "KITSON, Alexander Harper", Who Was Who
  3. ↑ Darren G. Lilleker, Against the Cold War, p.187
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