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The Top 10: Marxist-Leninists Who Went On To Other Things

A small selection of people who once adhered to a dogmatic hyphenated ideology

John Rentoul
Friday 04 October 2019 14:34 BST
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Saul Bellow (left) with Milton Friedman, shortly after they were awarded the Nobel Prize for literature and economics respectively in 1976
Saul Bellow (left) with Milton Friedman, shortly after they were awarded the Nobel Prize for literature and economics respectively in 1976

This list was proposed by Andy McSmith and was quickly overrun by People’s Front of Judea types. The hyphenated form is sometimes used by Stalinists to distinguish themselves from other kinds of Marxists such as Trotskyists. Some purists, though, insist that it should refer only to Maoist (or Albanian) factions. My ruling is that the more obscure the sect, and the more surprising the later career, the better.

1. Nikolai Podvoisky. In charge of military operations on the night the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917. In the 1930s, he was the leading Marxist-Leninist advocate of nudity. He said: “We can – and must – discard all ballast that separates our body from the sun: coats, jackets, vests, shirts, women’s fashions, socks and boots. Nine times out of 10, people wear them not because they need them but because they want to show off.” Opening nomination from Andy McSmith.

2. Nicola Bombacci. A founding father of the Italian Communist Party, then a high-ranking fascist who was with Mussolini when the partisans caught them and strung them up. Another from Andy McSmith.

3. Saul Bellow. Associated with Trotskyism in his youth, influenced by Max Shachtman. Later dabbled in writing, winning Nobel prizes and so on. Nominated by John McTernan.

4. Lionel Jospin. Asked by the Internationalist Communist Organisation to infiltrate the French Socialist Party in 1971. “He infiltrated it so well he ended up running it and became prime minister in 1997,” said Matthew Randall.

5. Steve Hewlett. Admirer of Enver Hoxha, the Albanian dictator, and member of a group of Marxists called the Goats. He later said: “What can I say? Every regime we supported collapsed. Things change, don’t they? People change.” Editor of BBC Panorama when it broadcast the interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, by Martin Bashir in 1995. Nominated by Oliver Kamm.

6. Roy Greenslade. Left the Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) – the main Maoist franchise in the UK – to become The Sun’s assistant editor, editor of the Daily Mirror and Guardian columnist. Thanks to Francis Wheen.

7. Paul Breitner. German footballer, scorer in the 1974 and 1982 World Cup finals, brought the Little Red Book to training, but ended up signing for Franco’s favourite team, Real Madrid. Thanks to Ben Stanley.

8. Alexei Sayle. Became a Maoist to rebel against his conventional Communist parents and joined the Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist). Comedian and author of Stalin Ate My Homework (about his parents) and Thatcher Stole My Trousers (about his young adulthood). From Francis Wheen again.

9. Jonathan Powell. A Maoist at King’s School, Canterbury. Chief of staff to Tony Blair, 1994-2007.

10. Claire Fox. Organiser for the Revolutionary Communist Party, which abandoned Trotskyism in 1991 and was wound up in 1997; co-publisher of Living Marxism, closed in 2000; associated with Spiked, internet magazine; founder of the Academy of Ideas. In May this year, she was elected to the European parliament as a Brexit Party MEP. Munira Mirza, another former member of the RCP, is now director of the No 10 policy unit. Thanks to Robert Boston and George Morris Seers.

Next week: Parliament buildings.

Coming soon: Unlikely things named after battles, such as chicken marengo and Maida Vale.

Your suggestions please, and ideas for future Top 10s, to me on Twitter, or by email to top10@independent.co.uk

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