James Edward Mortimer (12 January 1921 – 23 April 2013) was a British trade unionist and the Labour Party General Secretary between 1982 and 1985.
He was a trade union member of the National Board for Prices and Incomes between 1968 and 1971, and at the same time he was the Director of the London Co-operative Society.
During the 1983 general election campaign, at the daily press conference on 26 May, Mortimer announced that "The unanimous view of the campaign committee is that Michael Foot is the leader of the Labour Party and speaks for the Party".
[1] Mortimer wrote about this in his autobiography "I do not regret, that at a time when there was an effort to undermine the leadership of Michael Foot, I made it clear that this effort found no sympathy in Walworth Road.
He wrote several books, including a three volume history of the boilermakers' union and an autobiography "A Life on the Left".