Jock Haston
James "Jock" Ritchie Haston (1913–1986) was a British Trotskyist leader and the General Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP).
Haston was born in Edinburgh. He worked at sea in the merchant navy and joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). In the mid-1930s he moved to Trotskyism after leaving the CPGB in 1934 because of a dispute over Soviet ships and a trade boycott of Nazi Germany.
He led the Paddington group and helped form links with the Militant Group. In 1937 he helped welcome a group of South African Trotskyists, led by Ralph Lee, into the movement. After disputes over Lee and some alleged misuse of funds, the South Africans split off and formed the Workers International League (WIL). Haston became a leading figure in the WIL, especially after 1941, and formed a personal alliance with Millie Lee.
The WIL grew by attracting people from the CPGB, the RSL, and the Labour Party. It accepted the Fourth International’s Proletarian Military Policy, though this caused internal arguments. Haston led the faction that supported the policy, and the WIL adopted it.
During the war, Haston helped lead a delegation to Ireland to prepare for a possible illegal party center if the movement had to go underground. They remained legal, though they faced persecution at times. Haston was the last to return from Ireland and was briefly jailed on false papers.
After 1941, the WIL recruited many CPGB militants focused on industry, and also drew members from the Independent Labour Party. A local apprentices’ dispute in the north led to arrests under the Trade Disputes Act of 1927. The WIL later merged with the Revolutionary Socialist League to form the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). Haston became the leading figure of the British Trotskyist movement and opposed the wartime Labour-Conservative electoral truce.
In the 1945 Neath by-election, Haston stood as the RCP candidate and won 1,781 votes. The party built a branch there, and Labour’s D. J. Williams later helped Haston find work with the National Council of Labour Colleges.
As the war ended, the RCP pushed the Fourth International’s program while debating its own analysis of Stalinism, Tito’s Yugoslavia, and economic trends. Haston argued that state ownership did not equal socialism, influencing other thinkers like Tony Cliff.
In 1947 an FI-backed minority allowed the RCP to join the Labour Party, despite the RCP’s own wishes. The RCP dissolved in 1949, and Haston and others joined Gerry Healy in what was called “The Club.” He resigned from the Trotskyist movement in February 1950 but stayed active in the Labour Party. He later worked as a lecturer for the National Council of Labour Colleges and as educational director for the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EETPU).
James Haston passed away in 1986, remembered as a key British Trotskyist leader.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:06 (CET).