Len Murray, Baron Murray of Epping Forest
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The Right Honourable The Lord Murray of Epping Forest OBE PC |
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|---|---|
| General-Secretary of the TUC | |
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In office 1973–1984 |
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| Preceded by | Vic Feather |
| Succeeded by | Norman Willis |
| Assistant General-Secretary of the TUC | |
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In office 1969–1973 |
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| Preceded by | Vic Feather |
| Succeeded by | Norman Willis |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Lionel Hodskinson 2 August 1922 Hadley, Shropshire |
| Died | 20 May 2004 (aged 81) Loughton, Essex |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Other political affiliations |
Communist Party of Great Britain |
| Spouse(s) | Heather née Woolf m. 1945 (later Heather, The Lady Murray of Epping Forest) |
| Children | Four, including David Murray |
Lionel Murray, Baron Murray of Epping Forest, OBE, PC (2 August 1922 – 20 May 2004) was a British Labour Party politician and trade union leader.
Murray was born in Hadley, Shropshire, the son of a young unmarried woman, Lorna Hodskinson, and was brought up by a local nurse, Mary Jane Chilton. He attended Wellington Grammar School in Wellington, Shropshire and read English at Queen Mary College, London, but left after a year because of the emphasis on Anglo-Saxon language. He briefly became a teacher but found he was unsuitable and then joined the British Army.
Murray was commissioned in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry in April 1943 and took part in the Normandy landings on D-Day. Six days later, Murray was badly wounded and in October 1944 was invalided out of the army with the rank of lieutenant.
Murray worked at an engineering works in Wolverhampton as storekeeper, before leaving to sell The Daily Worker on street corners and joining the Communist Party. Whilst selling The Daily Worker, he encountered his former headmaster, who informed him he was wasting his time. Determined to improve himself, shortly afterwards Murray gained a place at New College, Oxford where he graduated with a First in PPE after two years' study under tutors including: future MP Dick Crossman and Sir John Hicks.
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