Socialist Equality Party (Britain)

The SEP candidates in West of Scotland Region

Chris Marsden
Julie Hyland
Robert Skelton
Harvinder Singh Thind
Niall Cooper

The SEP candidates in South Wales Central Region

Chris Talbot
David O’Sullivan
Stuart Nolan
Poopalasingam Thillaivarothayan

West of Scotland Region

Chris Marsden, 45, is the National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party and is on the Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site. He joined the International Committee in 1983 at a time of mounting struggles against the Thatcher government, which culminated in the year-long miners’ strike. A full-time writer for the World Socialist Web Site since it was launched in 1997, Marsden writes extensively on the major political and social developments in Europe and the Middle East. Born in Sheffield, he is married with one child.

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Julie Hyland, 42, has been a member of the International Committee since 1979, when she joined its youth organisation, the Young Socialists. She went on to become the YS National Secretary, in which position she led numerous campaigns in defence of the rights of the unemployed, students and young workers. Hyland stood as a parliamentary candidate for the Socialist Equality Party in the 1997 General Election. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site and a full-time writer on political and social developments in Britain. Born in London, she is married with an adult son.

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Robert Skelton, 37, joined the International Committee in 1988 and has taken part in political campaigns in the United States and Europe. He is responsible for the weekly round-up of workers struggles across Europe for the World Socialist Web Site and has also written on the privatisation of the National Health Service and on the Blair government’s policies on nuclear power. Born in Manchester, he was formerly employed in call centre work before becoming a full-time carer.

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Harvinder Singh Thind, 35, was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, to parents who emigrated from the Punjab. He became a member of the International Committee in 1992. He was a Commissioner on the Workers Inquiry into the killing of Jamaican immigrant Joy Gardner during her attempted deportation in 1995. He is a regular writer for the World Socialist Web Site on the consequences of the British occupation in Afghanistan. Married, he is employed as a primary school classroom assistant.

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Niall Cooper, 27, was born in Glasgow. Having obtained a history degree at the University of Glasgow, he now works as a museum curator. He has been active in socialist politics since 2001 and writes for the World Socialist Web Site on Russia and Central Asia.

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South Wales Central Region

Chris Talbot, 61, has been a member of the International Committee of the Fourth International for 40 years. He joined the Trotskyist movement as a student in 1967, at a time of major working class struggles in Britain and throughout Europe. As a regular contributor to the World Socialist Web Site, he focuses on the African continent, particularly the renewed turn to colonialism by the major powers. He also writes articles on science policy questions from a socialist standpoint. Born in Runcorn, Cheshire, he is a lecturer in engineering mathematics at Huddersfield University. He is married with three adult children.

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David O’Sullivan, 43, has been a member of the International Committee since 1984. Formerly a mechanical engineer at Rolls Royce, Watford in 1994 he led a campaign against the closure of the factory, in a struggle against the pro-company policies of the unions. He now works on the London Underground, where he has sought to mobilise workers against the attacks on jobs and working conditions implemented by management and the private contractors. He was born in London and is married with six children and one grandchild.

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Stuart Nolan, 39, started work in 1989 as a British Rail conductor at Leeds City station where he fought trade union collaboration with privatisation and its disastrous impact on safety. He now works as a conductor for Silverlink on the route from Birmingham to London . He has been a member of the International Committee since 1987 and was a candidate for the Socialist Equality Party in the 1997 General Election. He is a regular correspondent on Spain for the World Socialist Web Site. Born in Leeds , he and his partner have one child.

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Poopalasingam Thillaivarothayan, 31, was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He was forced into exile as a Tamil refugee from the bloody civil war in that country. After spending two years in India, he moved to France in 1989 to join his family. A member of the International Committee since 1998, he writes for the World Socialist Web Site on developments in India and the plight of immigrant workers and refugees in Europe. He has also played an active role in the development of the Tamil-language site of the WSWS and in political work amongst the exile community. Despite training as a web developer he has often been forced to take temporary, low paid work and is currently studying in England.

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