Harry Conroy was a trade union leader

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 and journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

. He was the leader of the National Union of Journalists

National Union of Journalists

The National Union of Journalists is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists .-Structure:...

 from 1985 to 1990.

Born in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, he attended Lourdes Secondary School

Lourdes Secondary School

Lourdes Secondary School is a Roman Catholic denominational state school in Glasgow that serves the south side boroughs of Mosspark, Crookston, Govan, Pollok, Craigton, Penilee, Hillington and Ibrox, and was opened in 1956. The school neighbours Nazareth House and Cardonald College.-Grounds:The...

 in Cardonald

Cardonald

Cardonald is an outlying suburb of the Scottish city of Glasgow. Formerly a village in its own right, it lies to the southwest of the city and is bounded to the south by the White Cart Water...

. He worked as a trainee lab technician in the Southern General Hospital

Southern General Hospital

The Southern General Hospital is a large teaching hospital with an acute operational bed complement of approximately 900 beds. The Hospital is located in Linthouse in the south west of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom and provides a comprehensive range of acute and related clinical...

 before finding work at the Scottish Daily Express

Daily Express

The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...

. He subsequently worked for various newspapers including the Daily Record

Daily Record (Scotland)

The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...

, before becoming chair of the NUJ. In 2006, he wrote a biography of Prime Minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

 James Callaghan

James Callaghan

Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...

, based on his experiences as press officer for the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

during Callaghan's tenure as leader.