Tom Sawyer, Baron Sawyer

Lawrence Sawyer, Baron Sawyer (born 12 May 1943), known as Tom Sawyer, is a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician. He was General Secretary of the Labour Party from 1994 to 1998.

The Right Honourable The Lord Sawyer
Sawyer in 2019
General Secretary of the Labour Party
In office 1994–1998
Leader	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Larry Whitty
Succeeded by	Margaret McDonagh
Chairman of the National Executive Committee
In office 1990–1991
Leader	Neil Kinnock
Preceded by	Jo Richardson
Succeeded by	Tony Clarke
Personal details
Born	12 May 1943 Darlington, County Durham
Political party	Labour
Occupation	Trade union official

Early life

Sawyer was educated at Dodmire School, Eastbourne Comprehensive School and Darlington Technical College.

Career

Trade unions

After his education, Sawyer worked in engineering, before moving into trade unionism. He became a National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) Officer in 1971, becoming their Northern Regional Officer in 1975. In 1981, he was made Deputy General Secretary of NUPE and served through its merger to become UNISON until 1994.

The Labour Party

In his NUPE role he served as a National Executive Committee Member of the Labour Party between 1981 and 1994 and was elected to serve as its Chair from 1990 to 1991.

In 1994, Sawyer became General Secretary of the Labour Party and led the Party successfully into the 1997 General Election. He was a moderniser who helped bring about the New Labour era.[1] He stood down at the 1998 Party Conference[2] and was created a Life Peer as Baron Sawyer, of Darlington in the County of Durham on 4 August 1998.[3] He is now a director of several companies and public sector bodies.

The Labour History Archive and Study Centre at the People's History Museum in Manchester holds the papers of Sawyer, which range from 1985 to 1998.[4]

Academic offices

In 2005, Lord Sawyer became the chancellor of the University of Teesside, replacing former Conservative MP and member of the European Commission, Leon Brittan. Sawyer served in this role until 2017.

References

1. Macintyre, Donald (9 September 1998). "How we all fought to end Labour's political corruption". The Independent. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
2. "'Sheriff' hangs up his pager". BBC News. 2 October 1998. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
3. "No. 55229". The London Gazette. 18 August 1998. p. 8994.
4. Collection Catalogues and Descriptions, Labour History Archive and Study Centre

External links

• Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 14 October 1998