Peter Heathfield

Who was Peter Heathfield?

Peter Heathfield was a British trade unionist who was general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers between 1984 and 1992, including the period of the miners' strike of 1984/85.

He was born in Somercotes, near Alfreton in Derbyshire, moving to Chesterfield with his family as a child. After leaving school he worked in a colliery drawing office, before starting underground work at the Williamthorpe coal mine. He became active in the North Derbyshire region of the NUM, and the local Labour Party, and attended education courses at Sheffield University's extramural department. He also became a local councillor in Chesterfield, and unsuccessfully sought nomination as a Labour candidate in the 1964 General Election for Ilkeston.

In 1966, he was elected to a full-time post in the NUM, rising to become vice-president of the Derbyshire NUM in 1970 and Derbyshire area secretary in 1973. Although tipped to become national president of the NUM in 1981, he stood aside to support the younger Arthur Scargill as the left-wing candidate.

In January 1984, he was elected general secretary of the NUM, taking over the post in March, five days before the strike began.