A HUDDERSFIELD teacher has written the first comprehensive history of the Labour youth movement.
Dr Michelle Webb wrote the book after completing a PhD at the University of Huddersfield.
She interviewed former members of the Labour League of Youth – including her mother Kirklees councillor Molly Walton and Dewsbury-born former House of Commons speaker Betty Boothroyd.
Dr Webb, 51, said: “Like many children of Labour activists, I grew up listening to their stories. Then it dawned on me one day that no-one had ever written much about the League of Youth.
“When I interviewed former members, they always said that they’d never been asked to speak about the league before.”
The youth association was set up in 1924 and disbanded in 1938 after disagreements with the central party. After the war it was re-established, before being replaced by locally-based associations in 1955.
Dr Webb, who lives on Jackroyd Lane in Newsome, said: “They were an extremely vibrant and enthusiastic group who really deserved more respect from the central party. They were left-wing, radical and troublesome – but that’s what youth is all about.”
Dr Webb spoke to many people, including her mother, who were members of the league in the immediate post-war years.
She said: “Their memories were so vivid but once they die their history will be gone.”
Indeed, some of the people Dr Webb interviewed have since passed away – including Tom Megahy of Mirfield, the first leader of Kirklees Council.
Dr Webb, who teaches at Lee Mount Primary School in Halifax, completed a PhD on the league in 2007 before deciding to turn her research into a book.
The Labour League of Youth was released by the Edwin Mellen Press on February 22. It is available from online book retailer Amazon.
