Hung, drawn and quartered

The cariacatures of Ken Gill

John Green and Michael Boñcza. (eds), Artery Publications, 132 pages, paperback, £12.00

This collection is a fitting tribute to the trade unionist Ken Gill, who died recently. It consists of a short biography of his life together with more than 80 caricatures he drew in the course of his political and trade union career. Gill became a convinced Communist during his teens and maintained his core beliefs to his death.

He joined the DATA technical union in the 1960s, becoming general secretary of the union successor TASS in 1974. The union would become the MSF and then Amicus, now part of Unite. He sat on the TUC General Council for 18 years. In 1993 he was voted the “Trade Unionists’ Trade Unionist” in a survey by The Observer Sunday newspaper.

The caricatures include union leaders past and present, as well as politicians, socialists and campaigners. One cartoon, of Thatcherite Keith Joseph as the mad monk (or the grim reaper) complete with axe, is particularly striking. Derek Simpson, currently Unite joint general secretary, appears with an outlandishly large mobile phone, while other union leaders are chided for their foibles.

However, these caricatures are usually generous rather than cruel, and all the more impressive since most would have been scribbled as asides during meetings.