Jack Villiers Leckie (born 3 May 1887) was a Scottish communist activist.Jack Villiers Leckie in Connecticut, Federal Naturalization Records, 1790–1996

Early life Leckie was born in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland, into an Irish family. He became interested in anarchism and industrial unionism, and travelled to the United States. He arrived in New York City on 14 October 1914, and proceeded to join the Industrial Workers of the World. He apparently acquired U.S. citizen in Connecticut in 1916, listing himself as a machinist. He then lived for a while in Chicago,U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918 before returning to the UK in 1918.UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878–1960

Political activism

Leckie returned to Scotland and joined the Socialist Labour Party (SLP), which was central to the Clyde Defence Committee. Leckie was elected the committee's secretary.Richard Flanagan, "Parish-fed Bastards": A History of the Politics of the Unemployed in Britain, 1884–1939, p. 106. The Socialist described him at the time as "an ardent antiparliamentarian, who breathes dynamite, and talks red armies".Richard Flanagan, "Parish-fed Bastards": A History of the Politics of the Unemployed in Britain, 1884–1939, p. 150. In 1920, Leckie co-founded with other committee leaders, such as John Maclean, the Communist Labour Party (CLP), and was elected party chairman. It was intended to be a Scottish communist party that opposed participation in Parliament or joint work with the Labour Party.Leslie John Macfarlane, The British Communist Party: Its Origin and Development Until 1929, p. 64.

According to Graham Stevenson, Leckie attended the 2nd World Congress of the Comintern, although he does not appear in the official list of delegates. Either way, he became convinced of the need for British communists to unite in a single communist party, to participate in elections, and to seek affiliation to the Labour Party. As a result, he championed the merger of the CLP into the new Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), which was completed at a unity conference early in 1921.

Leckie grew interested in the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the potential of creating a workers' army in Scotland.Alan Campbell, The Scottish Miners, 1874–1939: Trade unions and politics, p. 166. He brought over a captain from the IRA and began drilling volunteers in eastern Fife, although this project was abandoned when he was called away by the CPGB to organise workers in Coventry.Kevin Morgan, Gidon Cohen and Andrew Flinn, Communists and British society, 1920–1991, p. 71. There, he supported engineers during the lock-out, and became the leading figure in the Coventry Unemployed Workers' Movement, which planned to stand him in the 1922 general election. The CPGB initially backed Leckie's candidacy, and he campaigned in the city. In August, however, the CPGB withdrew its support in the interests of unity with the Labour Party, and Leckie stood down.F. W. Carr, Engineering workers and the rise of Labour in Coventry, 1914 - 1939, pp. 148–150.

Leckie attended the 4th World Congress of the Comintern as a member of the Presidium. The Congress deputised him to investigate conditions in the Ruhr under the Franco-Belgian occupation. He served as the CPGB's representative to the Comintern at its headquarters in Berlin. During his time there, he was given permission to attend the Central Committee meetings of the Communist Party of Germany.Andrew Thorpe, The British Communist Party and Moscow, 1920-43, p. 63.

In 1925, Leckie was sent back to the UK to become the British secretary of Workers International Relief, a CPGB-led organisation, with a brief to move it from a focus on funding welfare to a more combative role.Kevin Morgan, Gidon Cohen and Andrew Flinn, Communists and British society, 1920–1991, p. 168. Leckie hoped to return to Germany, but the run-up to the UK general strike and the imprisonment of much of the party's leadership meant that he could not be spared.Andrew Thorpe, The British Communist Party and Moscow, 1920-43, p. 91.

The CPGB considered running Leckie as a candidate in the 1928 Linlithgowshire by-election, but eventually decided against it, due to a lack of funds.Andrew Thorpe, The British Communist Party and Moscow, 1920-43, p. 128. However, he did contest Dunfermline Burghs at the 1929 general election, where he took 6.5% of the vote.Alan Campbell, The Scottish Miners, 1874–1939: Trade unions and politics, p. 392.

He remained active in the CPGB for a few more years, making the news when he was arrested during a textile workers' dispute in West Yorkshire in 1930.

References