Lindsey German

Lindsey German is the convenor of the British anti-war organisation Stop the War Coalition and a member of the central committee of the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party. She was editor of "Socialist Review" for twenty years until 2004.She has twice stood as a left wing candidate for Mayor of London, coming fifth in 2004 and most recently standing as the Left List mayoral candidate in the May 2008 elections. She has written extensively, including two books on women.

History

Lindsey German was born in London in 1951 and educated in Hillingdon. She studied law at the London School of Economics, where she first became an active socialist. [cite web | title = Lindsey German | url=http://www.electrespectcoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=47 | accessdate = 2008-04-17 ] In 1970 she attended her first protest—the "Stop the '70 Tour" demonstration organised by Peter Hain against the tour by the all-white South African cricket team. She had planned to attend a march against the Vietnam War in 1968, but her mother begged her not to. [cite web | title = Profile: Lindsey German | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2008/02/25/profile_lindsey_german_feature.shtml | accessdate = 2008-04-17]

German joined the International Socialists, forerunner of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the 1970s, later becoming part of its elected central committee and therefore a full timer for the group by 1977 and has been employed by the organisation continuously since then. She was editor of the organisation's monthly magazine, "Socialist Review", from September 1984 until May 2004. She was part of the original National Abortion Campaign in 1975 and was involved in struggles to achieve equal pay for women. [cite web | title = Championing Respect for London | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/feb/14/lindseygerman | accessdate = 2008-04-21]

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US she helped to found the Stop the War Coalition, which was established to oppose what later became known as the War on Terrorism. German became convenor of the Stop the War Coalition and a prominent anti-war figure, speaking at meetings and demonstrations.

In January 2004, German supported the move to form Respect – The Unity Coalition, which includes the SWP and other opponents of the war in Iraq, and which stood as a left alternative to the Labour Party in elections. She was Respect's candidate for Mayor of London in 2004, as well as standing in elections for the London Assembly. She came 5th in the mayoral election and was within 0.43% of winning a seat on the assembly. In 2005 she stood for the West Ham, London, constituency in the general election, coming second with 19.5% of the vote.

On 18 April 2007 she was selected as Respect's candidate for the 2008 London Mayoral election. However, a subsequent split within the organisation meant that German was not able to use the party's name in the election. Instead German stood as the candidate of the Left List. [cite web | title = Why Respect is Standing as Left List in London | url = http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=14397 | accessdate = 2008-04-17] , finishing in eighth place.

German currently lives with her partner, John Rees, another leading member of the SWP, in Hackney, London.

Books

Lindsey German is the author of numerous books and articles including;

*"Material girls: Women, men and work" ISBN 1905192177
*"Sex, class and socialism" ISBN 0-906224-54-3
*"The Balkans: Nationalism and Imperialism " (editor), ISBN 1-898876-50-9
*"Why We Need A Revolutionary Party"
*"Socialists and Class ", ISBN 1-898876-05-3
*"Stop the War: The story of Britain's biggest mass movement", (editor with Andrew Murray), ISBN 1-905192-00-2
* [http://www.marxists.de/theory/germeng/index.htm "Frederick Engels"]
* [http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=240 "Theories of Patriarchy"]
* [http://www.marxists.de/theory/german/manifesto.htm "Reflections on the Communist Manifesto"]

References

External links

* [http://www.stopwar.org.uk/lindsey Lindsey's Blog] German's blog at Stop the War Coalition
* [http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/westhamblog/ On Campaign Trail] German's blog of her May 2005 election campaign
* [http://electrespectcoalition.org/ Lindsey for London] Lindsey German for Mayor election website