Zeph Hutchinson

Zephaniah Hutchinson (2 November 1888 – 5 January 1959) was a British trade unionist and political activist. Known as the leading left-wing activist in the Lancashire cotton trade unions, he served for 28 years as leader of the Bacup Weavers' Association.

Born in Cowling, Craven, in Yorkshire, Hutchinson began working in a cotton mill in Colne at the age of twelve. Three years later, he joined the Colne Weavers' Association. He later moved to work in Nelson, becoming a prominent activist in the Nelson Weavers' Association.

While in Nelson, Hutchinson joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP).

The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party, which appointed Hutchinson as a circulation organiser for its newspaper, the Daily Citizen. The paper proved shortlived, and Hutchinson moved on to work for The Daily News. He married, and decided to return to weaving, but remained active in the Labour Party, for which he stood unsuccessfully in Chorley at the 1923 and 1924 United Kingdom general elections.

Hutchinson remained the leading left-wing member of the cotton unions, and led opposition to UTFWA calls for a new Cotton Control Board, arguing instead for the nationalisation of the industry. However, the Communist Party of Great Britain and its National Minority Movement, led in the cotton industry by Harold Dickinson, refused to work with him. By 1933, he had left the ILP and joined the Socialist League.

Hutchinson retired in 1954, and died in 1959.