My friend and colleague Terry Burton, who has died aged 74, was a veteran socialist and union activist. He did not get the chance to go to university, but instead picked up his wide range of knowledge from reading books and his involvement in politics.
Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Terry belonged to one of the last batches to do national service – he was in the RAF from 1958-59. Then, he embarked on a life of political activism. He was a member of CND and supported the Committee of 100 antiwar group. In the 1960s he was associated with the small leftwing libertarian group Solidarity.
He did a variety of jobs, including being a British Rail ticket clerk, but eventually settled in the NHS. He worked at the Prince of Wales hospital in Tottenham, north London, in the 1980s and when that closed he transferred to the nearby St Ann's hospital. As a union activist, Terry was involved with the public sector workers' union Nupe which later became part of Unison.
In 1990 Terry was elected secretary of Haringey Trades Union Council, where I was chair. We worked together over two decades and I found him to be a most efficient and diligent officer.
Terry usually voted Labour until New Labour arrived. In 2001 he stood unsuccessfully for Haringey borough council as a candidate for the shortlived Socialist Alliance. He later joined the Green party.
He was a long-time resident of the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham, and had already lived there for some time before the 1985 riot. Visitors to his flat found a scene rather different to media images of the area. Surrounded by stacks of books and papers, Terry would frequently be immersed in a detail of the progress, or otherwise, of a leftwing party in an election in some part of the world.
Beset in recent years by poor health, Terry had Parkinson's disease and typically became active in the Parkinson's UK organisation. He continued to get out to events and meetings as best he could.
He is survived by his wife, Inga.