About John Forrester
Lived 1921 – 1978 (aged 56–57). John Forrester was a trade unionist.
John McKay Forrester (December 1921 – 4 September 1978) was a Scottish trade union official, who served on the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party.
He was born in Clydebank and attended Clydebank High School, then undertook an engineering apprenticeship. Through the apprentices' movement, he became interested in socialism, and joined the Labour Party, later becoming the chairperson of the Clydebank Constituency Labour Party. He also joined the Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen (AESD). At age 24, he began working full-time for the AESD as its youngest ever official. He spent much of his career in Manchester, focusing on building up trade unionism among clerical workers in the engineering industry, while maintaining close links with manual workers.
At the 1955 United Kingdom general election, Forrester stood unsuccessfully for the Labour Party in the City of Chester. on the executive of the Chile Solidarity Campaign; member of the National Peace Council; and union delegate to the National Committee of the Anti-Apartheid Movement.
Forrester served on the National Executive of the AESD, and in 1973 he was elected deputy general secretary of Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS), the engineering staff section of the AESD's successor, the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers. The Times noted that his death would "rob the left [of the NEC] of one of its strongest supporters".
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Important facts
People in John Forrester's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped John Forrester's
Frequently asked questions
Who was John Forrester?
Scottish trade union official
When was John Forrester born?
John Forrester was born in 1921.
When did John Forrester die?
John Forrester died on 4 September 1978.
What was John Forrester's occupation?
John Forrester was a trade unionist.
Sources & further reading
· DBpedia: John Forrester (trade unionist)
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). John Forrester. https://biography.guide/john-forrester/
MLA: "John Forrester." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/john-forrester/.
Chicago: "John Forrester." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/john-forrester/.
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