Reid, James (1932-2010 : Rector and Scottish trade union offical : University of Glasgow, Scotland)

James Reid (known as Jimmy) was born in 1932 in Govan, Glasgow. He left school at 14 to work as a delivery boy before becoming a clerk with a Glasgow stockbrokers firm. By this time he had already developed a strong interest in politics and in the labour movement that was flourishing on Clydeside.

After serving in the RAF in the 1950s (possibly as an engineer) and taking up an engineering apprenticeship with Bristol Polar Engines in Govan, he went on to work as a fitter with the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS). He was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and was elected a councillor in Clydebank.

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