Lew Adams is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 former trade unionist.

Adams started his career with British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

 aged 15, working his way up to become a steam locomotive driver.

A local Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen

Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen

The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen is the trade union representing railway workers in Great Britain who are train drivers or in the line of promotion to train driver....

 (ASLEF) trade union

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...

 representative, Adams was voted in as General Secretary in 1993. Towards the right of the trade union political spectrum, he vigorously opposed the Conservative governments' privatisation of British Rail

Privatisation of British Rail

The privatisation of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on 19 January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail Act 1993 . This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions to the relevant Board...

 via the Railways Act 1993

Railways Act 1993

The Railways Act 1993 was introduced by John Major's Conservative government and passed on 5 November 1993. It provided for the restructuring of the British Railways Board , the public corporation that owned and operated the national railway system...

, and was attacked and labelled by the right wing tabloids, most famously as "The Black Prince of Militancy" by the Daily Mail

Daily Mail

The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...

during the 1995 rail strike. Adams later had a locomotive named after him by Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland...

 boss Sir Richard Branson

Richard Branson

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....

 using the same "Black Prince" name, the first union secretary to have such an honour since former ASLEF secretary William P. Allen, General Secretary until 1947.

After being voted out of office in May 1998 to be replaced by left wing candidate Mick Rix

Mick Rix

Mick Rix is a British trade unionist and politician.-Union career:Rix is the former General Secretary of ASLEF. Rix left school at 16, and started work the next day, with no qualifications...

, Adams joined Virgin Trains as a training manager. In 2003 Adams was campaign manager for right-wing candidate Shaun Brady

Shaun Brady

Shaun Brady was general secretary of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen , the train drivers' trade union in Great Britain....

's unexpectedly successful campaign to be elected ASLEF General Secretary, defeating the incumbent Rix. Brady was removed from office the following year after a bitter dispute with the union's Executive Committee.

Adams was later appointed to the rail regulatory authority set up by the new 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...

 government, the Strategic Rail Authority

Strategic Rail Authority

In existence from 2001 to 2006, the Strategic Rail Authority was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry....

; and is a board member of the British Transport Police

British Transport Police

The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...

 authority.

External links

• Adams bio at the British Transport Police
  British Transport Police
  The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...
  
   authority