Dave Thompson
Dave Thompson, a Merseyside leader of the 1966 seafarers’ strike, died on August 9 2017 in Bangor hospital. Age 79 he was a member of Liverpool, then Crouch End, branches of the Communist Party.
A self-educated former army boxer, miner and bus conductor he was tortured in South Africa for his role in ANC struggles. As a supporter of the USSR he was proud of being called the ‘Commissar of South Liverpool’ for his community activism, especially in housing and claimants’ rights.
Fierce yet tender-hearted, he was a larger-than-life character who’d stepped out of the Jack London and Damon Runyon novels he admired. At his charismatic peak he seemed to made chairman the minute he stepped into any meeting.
After working as a London Underground manager, in later life he lived in Pwllheli. A cabbie and quizmaster, he was a community lynchpin: ‘Dave Taxi’. He is survived by two daughters, Elspeth and Katie, and three ex-partners: Joan, Jo and Rose.
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