Author Archives: lipstick socialist

About lipstick socialist

I am an activist and writer. My interests include women, class, culture and history. From an Irish in Britain background I am a republican and socialist. All my life I have been involved in community and trade union politics and I believe it is only through grass roots politics that we will get a better society. This is reflected in my writing, in my book Northern ReSisters Conversations with Radical Women and my involvement in the Mary Quaile Club. .If you want to contact me please use my gmail which is lipsticksocialist636

My review of Liverpool Dockers A History of Rebellion and Betrayal by Mike Carden

Posted on August 15, 2022 by lipstick socialist

    This book  is about Liverpool, about dockers, about their families and communities. It is also about democracy, trade unions and the Labour Party. It is about the past and  the present. Mike Carden was one of the key … Continue reading →

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My review of CAUSES IN COMMON Welsh Women and the Struggle for Social Democracy By Daryl Leeworthy

Posted on August 2, 2022 by lipstick socialist

In this new history book about the role of Welsh working class women Daryl says his aim is to highlight women who “were active in the trade unions and their adjunct organisations; who were involved in the cooperative movement or … Continue reading →

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My review of “The House that Jill Built” by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth

Posted on July 23, 2022 by lipstick socialist

      As a socialist feminist I am always looking around for books and authors to inspire me. I was introduced to Ethel Carnie  by  Ruth and Eddie Frow of the Working Class Movement Library. She was a northern … Continue reading →

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The Manchester and Salford Women’s TUC and the Manchester Sweated Industries Exhibition

Posted on June 20, 2022 by lipstick socialist

    By 1906 the Manchester and Salford Women’s Trade Union Council  was  a well established trade union body   known for its organising  work,  both locally and across the country. They were kept busy supporting working class women to set … Continue reading →

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My review of “Women’s Activism in Twentieth-Century Britain,” Paula Bartley

Posted on May 9, 2022 by lipstick socialist

In the introduction to this wide ranging history of women’s activism Paula stresses that it is an “Introduction to the variety of women’s engagement, not a comprehensive study”. Nevertheless  in 300 pages covering  100 years she has packed in some … Continue reading →

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Irish in Britain; posters of resistance 1985-2000

Posted on May 2, 2022 by lipstick socialist

  The Irish in Britain Representation Group  was an Irish  national  community organisation which during  its lifetime  organised and  took  part in many events up and down the country. The IBRG archive is at the WCML in Salford. This latest … Continue reading →

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Searching for Miss Nellie Kay; Manchester Tailoress and Union Organiser

Posted on January 16, 2022 by lipstick socialist

  Transcribing the Minute Books of the Manchester and Salford Women’s Trades Union Council led me to encounter Miss Nellie Kay. She was appointed as a special organiser for the  Tailoresses Society in June 1901. The address of the Tailoresses … Continue reading →

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My review of “Class of ’37 Voices from working-class girlhood” Hester Barron & Claire Langhamer

Posted on January 4, 2022 by lipstick socialist

    The authors of this wonderful book,  which  gives a voice to working class children in 1937, said that “they stumbled across an entry in the online catalogue (of the Mass Observation archive)  entitled ‘Children’s essays; observations in schools’” … Continue reading →

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My review of “Littlewoods Pools Girls” by Joan Boyce

Posted on December 20, 2021 by lipstick socialist

    Every Saturday around 4pm silence would descend on our noisy living room in East Manchester  as Dad took up his Littlewoods Pools coupon and checked it against the football results read out on Grandstand. Every family we knew … Continue reading →

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Enough is Enough: The Tameside Care Workers Dispute 1998-99

Posted on November 28, 2021 by lipstick socialist

  In April 1999 Unison asked the Centre for Public Services to  report on what had gone wrong in the privatisation of Tameside Labour Council’s elderly care services. They summed it up: ““This report shows a catalogue of mismanagement of … Continue reading →

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