Tom Sawyer, Baron Sawyer
The Lord Sawyer | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| General Secretary of the Labour Party | |
| In office 1994–1998 | |
| Leader | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Larry Whitty |
| Succeeded by | Margaret McDonagh |
| Chairman of the National Executive Committee | |
| In office 1990–1991 | |
| Leader | Neil Kinnock |
| Preceded by | Jo Richardson |
| Succeeded by | Tony Clarke |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 4 August 1998 – 4 August 2025 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 May 1943 Darlington, County Durham, England |
| Died | 3 August 2025 (aged 82) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Occupation | Trade union official |
Lawrence Sawyer, Baron Sawyer (12 May 1943 – 3 August 2025), known as Tom Sawyer, was a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician. He was General Secretary of the Labour Party from 1994 to 1998.
Early life
Sawyer was educated at Dodmire School, Eastbourne Comprehensive School and Darlington Technical College.
Career
Trade unions
Aged fifteen, Sawyer went to work on the factory floor of a Durham engineering works.[1] He became a National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) Officer in 1971, becoming their Northern Regional Officer in 1975. In 1981, he was made Deputy General Secretary of NUPE and served through its merger to become UNISON until 1994.
Labour Party
In his NUPE role he served as a National Executive Committee Member of the Labour Party between 1981 and 1994 and was elected to serve as its Chair from 1990 to 1991.
In 1994, Sawyer became General Secretary of the Labour Party and led the Party successfully into the 1997 General Election. He was a moderniser who helped bring about the New Labour era.[2] He stood down at the 1998 Party Conference[3] and was created a Life Peer as Baron Sawyer, of Darlington in the County of Durham on 4 August 1998.[4] He was later a director of several companies and public sector bodies.
The Labour History Archive and Study Centre at the People's History Museum in Manchester holds the papers of Sawyer, which range from 1985 to 1998.[5]
Other positions
In 2005, Lord Sawyer became the chancellor of the University of Teesside, replacing former Conservative MP and member of the European Commission, Leon Brittan. Sawyer served in this role until 2017.
Sawyer was a life-long admirer of William Morris, the socialist writer and craftsman and in 2018 Sawyer began a five-year term of office as President of the William Morris Society.[1]
Death
Sawyer died on 3 August 2025, at the age of 82.[6][7]
References
- ^ a b "A New President for the Society". The Blog of the William Morris Society. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
- ^ Macintyre, Donald (9 September 1998). "How we all fought to end Labour's political corruption". The Independent. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- ^ "'Sheriff' hangs up his pager". BBC News. 2 October 1998. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- ^ "No. 55229". The London Gazette. 18 August 1998. p. 8994.
- ^ Collection Catalogues and Descriptions, Labour History Archive and Study Centre
- ^ "Lord Sawyer obituary: General secretary of Labour during Tony Blair's rise". The Times. 6 August 2025. (subscription required)
- ^ "Keir Starmer leads tributes as Lord Sawyer dies aged 82". The Guardian. 4 August 2025.
External links
- Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 14 October 1998