Arthur Scargill
A fiery orator who led British miners in a year-long, defining battle against the Thatcher government's industrial policies.
Born 1938 (age 88)·British trade unionist·Birthday: January 11·The Silent Generation
Biography
Arthur Scargill emerged from the Yorkshire coalfields as a militant voice, rising through the ranks of the National Union of Mineworkers with a belief in confrontational, uncompromising trade unionism. Elected NUM president in 1982, he became the polarizing face of the 1984-85 miners' strike, a brutal industrial conflict that split communities and became a symbolic war over the future of Britain. Scargill's strategy, refusing to hold a national ballot and relying on mass picketing, drew both fervent loyalty and intense criticism. The strike's defeat marked a turning point, weakening the British labour movement and enabling the closure of most pits. Scargill remained an unrepentant socialist, forming a breakaway union and continuing to argue that the fight was just, his legacy forever tied to one of the UK's most bitter industrial disputes.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Arthur was born in 1938, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Arthur Was Born
The biggest hits of 1938
#1 Movie
You Can't Take It with You
Best Picture
You Can't Take It with You
Arthur's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1938Born
Kristallnacht and the escalation toward WWII
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $2,850Min wage: $0.25/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Begin the Beguine" — Artie ShawBest Picture: You Can't Take It with You
1943Started school
Allies invade Sicily; Battle of Stalingrad ends
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,290Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I've Heard That Song Before" — Harry JamesBest Picture: Casablanca
1951Became a teenager
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1954Could drive
Brown v. Board of Education desegregates US schools
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $8,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Little Things Mean a Lot" — Kitty KallenBest Picture: On the Waterfront
1956Could vote
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1959Turned 21
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1968Turned 30
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1978Turned 40
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1988Turned 50
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 60
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2008Turned 70
Barack Obama elected first Black US president; financial crisis
Gas: $3.27/galHome: $153,100Min wage: $6.55/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Low" — Flo RidaBest Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
2018Turned 80
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
Gas: $2.72/galHome: $211,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"God's Plan" — DrakeBest Picture: Green Book
2026Age 88 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Led the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) as its President from 1982 until 2002.
- Orchestrated the 1984-1985 UK miners' strike, the country's most significant industrial action of the late 20th century.
- Founded the Socialist Labour Party in 1996 as a left-wing alternative to the New Labour movement.
- Remained a prominent and unwavering voice for socialist policies and workers' rights long after the decline of the mining industry.
Did You Know?
He joined the Young Communist League at age 15 and became a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain by 17.
Scargill was a talented public speaker known for his fiery, unscripted rhetoric at rallies and on picket lines.
He successfully sued The Daily Mail for libel in 1991 after it published allegations about his conduct during the strike.
Despite the strike's defeat, he never held a leadership position in the Labour Party, remaining an outsider.
““The lesson of the 1984-85 strike is that you cannot win against the state unless you have the whole of the labour movement behind you.””
