Gerry Kelly R.I.P.

Sad news that blacklisted union activist, socialist and musician, Gerry Kelly has passed away. As a young construction union activist from Birmingham in the 1970s, Gerry was involved in disputes in the midlands and London. After finding it difficult to get work he retrained as a teacher and was active in the NUT, becoming a well known socialist figure in his adopted Waltham Forest. After the Consulting Association blacklist was exposed he spoke on behalf of the Blacklist Support Group at union meetings in East London. Gerry was also a musician, recently being a songwriter and occasional guitarist for The Fred Hampton Appreciation Society, the London soul band named after the murdered Black Panther.