View source for Harry Nicholas

{{Short description|British trade unionist (1905–1997)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Other people5|Nicholas Harris Nicolas|Henry Nicholas}}
{{One source|date=October 2021}}
'''Sir Herbert Richard Nicholas''' [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (13 March 1905 – 15 April 1997) was a [[Trade union|trade unionist]] and political organiser.

== Early life ==
Born in [[Bristol]], Nicholas worked for the [[Port of Bristol]] Authority until 1936, when he took a full-time post in the [[Transport and General Workers' Union]] (TGWU).  He moved to [[London]] to become National Officer in 1940, and in 1956 rose to become Assistant General Secretary.  In the same year, he was elected to the [[National Executive Committee of the Labour Party|National Executive Committee]] of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], and from 1960 to 1964 he was the [[Treasurer of the Labour Party|party treasurer]], appointed in order to maximise [[trade union]] donations.<ref name="jones">[[Jack Jones (trade union leader)|Jack Jones]], "[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sir-harry-nicholas-1268511.html Obituary: Sir Harry Nicholas]", ''[[The Independent]]'', 21 April 1997</ref>

[[Frank Cousins (British politician)|Frank Cousins]], General Secretary of the TGWU, served as [[Ministry of Technology|Minister of Technology]] from 1964 to 1966, and during this period, Nicholas became Acting General Secretary, also serving on the General Council of the [[Trades Union Congress]].  In 1967, he returned to the Labour NEC.  He took early retirement from the union in 1968 to become [[General Secretary of the Labour Party]], having been offered the post by [[Harold Wilson]] after several other candidates refused the position.<ref name="jones" />

Nicholas was criticised after Labour lost the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970 general election]], and he stood down in 1972.<ref name="jones" />

==References==
<references />

{{s-start}}
{{s-npo|union}}
{{succession box
  | title  = Assistant General Secretary of the [[Transport and General Workers' Union]]
  | years  = 1956–1968
  | before = [[Frank Cousins (British politician)|Frank Cousins]]
  | after  = [[Harry Urwin]]
}}
{{succession box
  | title  = Acting General Secretary of the [[Transport and General Workers' Union]]
  | years  = 1964–1966
  | before = [[Frank Cousins (British politician)|Frank Cousins]]
  | after  = [[Frank Cousins (British politician)|Frank Cousins]]
}}
{{succession box|title=[[Trades Union Congress]] representative to the [[AFL-CIO]]|years=1967|with=[[Jack Cooper (trade unionist)|Jack Cooper]]|before=[[William Carron]] and [[George Lowthian]]|after=[[Sidney Greene]] and [[George Smith (trade unionist)|George Smith]]}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{succession box|before=[[Aneurin Bevan]]|title=[[Treasurer of the Labour Party]]|after=[[Dai Davies (Labour politician)|Dai Davies]]|years=1960–1964}}
{{succession box|before=[[Leonard Williams (politician)|Len Williams]]|title=[[General Secretary of the Labour Party]]|after=[[Ron Hayward]]|years=1968–1972}}
{{s-end}}

{{Transport and General Workers' Union}}
{{Labour Party Treasurer}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Harry}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) officials]]
[[Category:British trade union leaders]]
[[Category:Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress]]
[[Category:Trade unionists from Bristol]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]