1955: James Maxton’s portrait is gifted to Glasgow

RUSSELL LEADBETTER

IN April 1955, at the People’s Palace in Glasgow, John Mcnair (second left), biographer of the late James Maxton, presented the city with a portrait in oils of the MP. The presentation to Lord Provost Thomas Kerr, as members of Maxton’s family looked on, was on behalf of the Maxton Memorial Fund Committee.

All that week, the Evening Times serialised Mcnair’s book, The Beloved Rebel, the extracts covering everything from Maxton’s political philosophy and his chairmanship of the Independent Labour Party to his lifelong pacifism, his long years as MP for Glasgow Bridgeton, and his skills as a parliamentary orator. His final illness lasted six months, and the book records his “last recorded utterance” – an appeal broadcast on the Scottish BBC’S Week’s Good Cause slot, on behalf of Glasgow’s Victoria Infirmary, made on Sunday, January 6, 1946.

Also recorded in the book were episodes from Maxton’s personal life, including his enjoyment of football (in 1932 he was photographed presenting the Central League Evening Times Championship to Shawfield Juniors, at Ibrox Park). He also had a talent for impersonation and improvisation. Once, at an ILP summer school, he decided to impersonate Mahatma Gandhi. He coated his entire body in chocolate-covered greasepaint and, wearing only a towel as a loincloth, materialised in a dimly-lit room in front of unsuspecting colleagues. It was a long time before any of them saw through the disguise.

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