- Michael Lavalette
-
Michael Lavalette during a Make Poverty History Rally.Michael Lavalette (born 1962) is a member of the Socialist Workers Party and until May 2011 a local councillor in Preston, Lancashire, England. He was first elected as a Socialist Alliance candidate shortly after the start of the Iraq War in 2003. And re-elected as a Respect councillor in 2007. In the split within Respect in 2007 he remained loyal to the SWP and broke with George Galloway.[1]
He is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Liverpool Hope University, formerly having worked at both Liverpool and Central Lancashire universities.
Along with Chris Jones, Iain Feguson, and Laura Penketh, he was an author of the Social Work manifesto for a new engaged practice[2] and organiser of the Liverpool and Glasgow conferences of the Social Work Action Network (SWAN), which stands in the radical social work tradition and seeks to oppose the increased managerialism and privatisation within the social work profession, and to promote social work practice based on principles of social justice.[3]
At the end of 2008 the Social Work Action Network ran a campaign defending social workers in the aftermath of the Baby P tragedy.[4] Shortly after, along with Iain Ferguson, he wrote a polemical pamphlet called 'Social Work After Baby P' that included significant contributions from academics, practitioners and senior trade union officers.[5]
Lavalette originally joined his local Labour Party in North Ayrshire at the age of 16 in 1979, but by January 1981 he had left to join the SWP. In the early 1990s he moved to Preston for work and became politically active in the local labour movement.
In Preston he continues to be politically active. He is the co-ordinator of the local Stop the War Coalition. He organised a solidarity day in Preston for victims of the Asian Tsunami and has led campaigns against hospital privatisation, Islamaphobia, the wars in the Middle East and support for local trade unionists on strike.
He regularly writes for the local paper the Lancashire Evening Post.
In May 2007 he was re-elected to Preston council and held his seat until May 2011.
Contents
2003 Election
Lavalette stood as a Socialist Alliance Against the War candidate. He was well known in the area as the leader of the local Stop the War Coalition. The "Against The War" label was crucial in gaining him victory in a ward with over 40% Muslim voters. At the time sentiment against Labour and in particular the pro-war local MP, Mark Hendrick, was running high. It is questionable if the Socialist Alliance platform alone would have been sufficient for victory in such a ward.
George Galloway was alleged to have backed Michael Lavalette in this election, which was one of the charges that led to George Galloway being expelled from the Labour Party.[6]
{{{title}}} Party Candidate Votes % ±% Socialist Alliance Michael Lavalette 546 37.8 Labour Musa Ahmed Jiwa 440 30.4 Conservative Julian Sedgewick 228 15.8 Liberal Democrat Liam Pennington 220 15.2 Majority 106 {{{percentage}}} {{{change}}} Turnout 1,444 28 {{{change}}} Socialist Alliance gain from Labour Swing {{{swing}}} 2005 election
In 2005 he stood as a Respect candidate in the Parliamentary elections for Preston coming fourth with almost 7% of the vote, which is considered very high for a fourth party and saved his deposit.[7]
General Election 2005: Preston Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Co-op Mark Hendrick 17,210 50.5 -6.5 Conservative Fiona Bryce 7,803 22.9 -0.1 Liberal Democrat William Parkinson 5,701 16.7 +3.5 Respect Michael Lavalette 2,318 6.8 +6.8 UKIP Ellen Boardman 1,049 3.1 +3.1 Majority 9,407 21.6 Turnout 34,081 53.8 +4.6 Labour Co-op hold Swing -3.2 2007 Election
Lavalette kept his council seat, Preston Town Centre, with 1179 votes (52%).[8]
Opposing Cuts
In December 2010 Michael Lavalette proposed a motion to Preston City Council calling for opposition to cuts, job losses and privatisations. This motion had the backing of the local trades council and of 'Preston Against Cuts'. 5 Labour councillors had voted and spoken in favour of this motion at these meetings. When it came to the full council meeting however, all the Labour councillors voted against this motion, and for an amendment supporting 'fairer' cuts backed by the Liberals and Tories.[9]
Published works
- The Forgotten Workforce: Scottish Children at Work (1991)(Glasgow, Scottish Low Pay Unit) issbn: 1 872466 01 X
- Child employment in the capitalist labour market (1994) (Aldershot, Ashgate)isbn: 1 85628 600 2
- Solidarity on the waterfront: the Liverpool lock out of 1995/96 (with Jane Kennedy) (1996) (Liverpool, Liver Press)isbn: 1 871 201 06 3
- Social policy: a conceptual and theoretical introduction (edited with Alan Pratt) (1996)(London, Sage) isbn: 0 6039 7532 5
- Anti-racism and social welfare (edited with Laura Penketh and Chris Jones) (1998) (Aldershot, Ashgate) isbn: 1 84014 507 2
- A thing of the past?: child labour in Britain in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (editor) (1999)(Liverpool, Liverpool University Press) isbn 0 312 21811 7
- Child labor: a world history companion (with Sandy Hobbs and Jim McKechnie) (1999)(New York, ABC-CLIO) isbn: 0874369568
- Class struggle and social welfare (edited with Gerry Mooney) (2000)(London, Routledge)isbn: 0415201047
- Social Policy: A conceptual and theoretical introduction (second edition) (Edited with Alan Pratt)(2001) (London, Sage) isbn: 0761969527
- Leadership and social movements (edited with Colin Barker and Alan Johnson)(Manchester, MUP) (2001) isbn 0 7190 5902 X
- Rethinking social welfare: a critical perspective (with Iain Ferguson and Gerry Mooney) (2002)(London, Sage) isbn: 0 7619 64177
- Children, welfare and the state (edited with Barry Goldson and Jim McKechnie) (2002)(London, Sage)isbn: 0761972331
- A Palestine Journey; Respect For Palestine (pamphlet)
- Globalisation, global justice and social work (edited with Iain Ferguson and Elizabeth Whitmore)(2005)(London, Sage)isbn: 0415325382
- Social Policy: Theories, concepts and issues (Third Edition) (Edited with Alan Pratt) (2006) (London, Sage) isbn 1 4129 0170 7
- George Lansbury and the rebel councillors of Poplar (foreword by George Galloway) (2006)(London, Bookmarks) isbn: 1898877440
- International Social Work and the Radical Tradition (edited with Iain Ferguson) (2007)(Birmingham, Venture Press) isbn: 978 1 86178 076 8
- Social Work After Baby P: Issues debates and Alternative Perspectives(Edited with Iain Ferguson) (2009) (Liverpool, Liverpool Hope University Press) isbn: 978 1 898749 02 8
- Radical Social Work Today (Editor) (2011)(Bristol, Policy Press) isbn: 976 1 84 742 817 2
- Social Work in Extremis (edited with Vassilios Ioakimidis) (2011) (Bristol, Policy Press) isbn: 978 1 84742 718 2
- Voices From the West Bank (with Chris Jones) (2011) (London, Bookmarks) isbn978 1 90519 282 3
References
- ^ H. Wainwright Any Respect Left? The Guardian 16 Nov 2007 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/nov/16/anyrespectleft
- ^ Social Work and Social Justice: a manifesto for a new engaged practice http://www.socialworkfuture.org/?page_id=50
- ^ Helen Carter Time is of the Essence The Guardian 11 March 2009
- ^ SWAN Stop Witch-hunting Social Workers http://www.socialworkfuture.org/?page_id=56
- ^ I. Ferguson and M. Lavalette (2009) Social Work After baby P: Issues, debates and alternative perspectives (Liverpool, Hope University Press)
- ^ Galloway expelled from Labour
- ^ Michael Lavalette: Electoral history and profile http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/person/9613/michael-lavalette
- ^ RESPECT - The Unity Coalition - News
- ^ Socialist Worker 8th Jan 2011 http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=23498
External links
Categories:- Living people
- Socialist Workers Party (UK) members
- Respect Party politicians
- British anti-war activists
- 1962 births
- Councillors in Lancashire
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