David John Nellist (born 16 July 1952) is a British Trotskyist[1] activist who was the MP for the constituency of Coventry South East from 1983 to 1992.
[5] Michael White of The Guardian recalled in 2007 the speech Nellist gave after receiving the award: "It was witty and highly political, done with style and without compromise.
Following a National Executive Committee meeting in December 1991, along with Terry Fields he was expelled from the Labour Party and deselected as a candidate for the 1992 general election.
Nellist gained the support of his Constituency party (which was subsequently suspended by the National Executive Committee) and a number of local trade unions.
Nellist was a prominent figure in organising the Socialist Alliance, locally and across the UK, as a loose formation of individuals and groups.
[14] Nellist stood as a No to EU – Yes to Democracy candidate in the 2009 European election in the West Midlands Region of England gaining 13,415 votes (0.9%).
Following the 2009 European elections, Nellist played a leading role in the formation of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), of which he is interim leader.
[16] Running against the incumbent MP, the Labour government's Secretary of State for Defence Bob Ainsworth, he received 1,592 votes (3.7%) losing his deposit for the first time in a Westminster constituency.
He said: "I hope Jeremy does well in the election and, if successful, his first action should be to instruct local Labour councils to halt cuts and direct a strategy to resist austerity.
[24] In May 2017, he withdrew as a candidate for the general election and encouraged supporters in Coventry to back Jeremy Corbyn for Prime Minister.
He said: "I support Jeremy's anti-austerity policies of higher wages, free university education, crash housebuilding programme, public ownership of the railways – and 4 more bank holidays!