Leslie Spoor

Leslie Spoor (12 October 1910 – 13 March 2011) was a British political activist, the principal founder of what became the Scottish Green Party.

Born in South Shields, and schooled in Edinburgh and Dunfermline, Spoor became politically active while working in London in the 1930s, and was involved in the Battle of Cable Street. When the Second World War broke out he volunteered as a Stretcher Party Officer during the Blitz. When conscripted, he joined the Royal Air Force, serving out the war as a wireless operator, then after the war he attended University of Edinburgh where he studied History and then teaching. He taught at Musselburgh Grammar School, was active in the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association and a leading player in developing Modern Studies - part of his desire to see politics taught in schools. He also lectured for the Open University and in 1964 left school teaching for the FE sector, joining the staff of Napier Technical College.

A long-term member of the Labour Party, Spoor was a close friend of Robin Cook. Spoor retired in 1975, however, and in 1978 hosted the first meeting of Scottish members of the Ecology Party. He oversaw the branch's campaign in Edinburgh South for the 1979 general election, and also served on the national executive. Spoor continued campaigning for what became first the UK-wide Green Party, then the independent Scottish Green Party until his death in 2011, aged 100.