{{Short description|British trade union leader (1926–2009)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Use British English|date=April 2018}} '''Bryan Capewell Stanley''' (3 May 1926 –19 July 2009) was a British trade union leader.
Born in Walsall (on the first day of the General Strike), and educated at Queen Mary's Grammar School, Stanley left school at 14.<ref name="y989">{{cite news | title=Bryan Stanley | work=The Telegraph | date=17 August 2009 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/6044596/Bryan-Stanley.html | access-date=13 September 2025}}</ref><ref name="obituary"/> He started work with the Post Office in 1942, and joined the Post Office Engineering Union (POEU) immediately.<ref name="obituary" />
Stanley stood for parliament in the 1956 Hereford by-election before fighting Worcester in the 1959 general election and a 1961 by-election, won by Peter Walker. His last parliamentary candidature was at Walsall South in the 1964 general election.<ref name="y989"/>
In 1959, he became a full-time organiser for the union, and in 1972, was elected as its General Secretary. In 1973, he was elected to the Labour Party's National Executive Committee. He stood down in 1978 to make way for John Golding, a Union-sponsored MP. In 1983, following a rule change at the TUC, providing automatic representation for unions with over 100,000 members, he became a member of the TUC General Council, where he remained until his retirement in 1986.<ref name="obituary">{{cite news | last = Ward | first = Claire | title = Obituary: Bryan Stanley | newspaper = The Guardian | date = 2009-07-26 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jul/26/obituary-bryan-stanley | accessdate = 2014-01-19}}</ref>
Although on the right of the Labour Party, Stanley declined an offer from Shirley Williams to defect to the Social Democratic Party, instead working to oppose the left within the party. In 1981, he convened the St Ermin's group of anti-militant trade union leaders, which aimed to co-ordinate their votes to win control of the Labour Party. He was not able to prevent the privatisation of British Telecom, and retired in 1986, but took up a post on the Industrial Tribunals panel.<ref name="obituary" /> Just before his retirement, the POEU merged with the Postal and Telecommunications Group of the Civil and Public Services Association to form the National Communications Union, and Stanley served as its first General Secretary.<ref>"[http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/UNINews.nsf/vwLkpById/9D8F1D31577A434AC12575FB004E51E3 Bryan Stanley, former General Secretary of the now CWU] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717004754/http://www.uniglobalunion.org/Apps/UNINews.nsf/vwLkpById/9D8F1D31577A434AC12575FB004E51E3 |date=July 17, 2011 }}", Union Network International</ref>
In 1990, Stanley was elected as a councillor in Hertsmere, and in 1996, he became leader of the council. He worked to purchase Elstree Studios for the borough, and was Mayor of Elstree and Borehamwood in 1997.<ref name="obituary" />
He was married with two children.<ref name="obituary" />
==References== {{reflist}}
{{start box}} {{s-npo|union}} {{succession box | title = General Secretary of the Post Office Engineering Union | years = 1972–1985 | before = Charles Delacourt-Smith | after = ''Position abolished'' }} {{succession box | title = General Secretary of the National Communications Union | years = 1985–1986 | before = ''New position'' | after = John Golding }} {{end box}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Bryan}} Category:1926 births Category:2009 deaths Category:General secretaries of the Post Office Engineering Union Category:Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Category:British trade union leaders Category:Mayors of places in Hertfordshire Category:People from Walsall Category:Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Category:Councillors in Hertfordshire Category:People educated at Queen Mary's Grammar School Category:People from Elstree