Recently elected General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers Peter Heathfield salutes a new generation of miners fighting in this dispute.

Peter Heathfield was elected General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers' (NUM) in January 1984, but did not take up the post until the 1st March, five days before the 1984-85 Miners' Strike was called. Alongside NUM President Arthur Scargill and Vice-President Mick McGahey, he was part of the so-called NUM 'troika' (Russian for 'a set of three') and supported Scargill, a close friend, throughout the strike. Many have cited his lack of criticism of his friend as being a factor in the eventual defeat of the miners, especially as it was believed he had doubts about Scargill's strategy. Heathfileld was born in the village of Somercotes, near Alfreton in Derbyshire, in 1929. His family moved to Chesterfield where, after leaving school, he began work as miner at Williamthorpe coal mine.During this period, he became an active member of both the local NUM as well as the Labour Party, becoming a councillor in Chesterfield and being narrowly defeated as Parliamentary candidate for Ilkeston in the 1964 General Election. Heathfield worked as a miner for 18 years until 1966 when he became a full-time member of the NUM, becoming vice-president of Derbyshire in 1970 and General Secretary from 1974 until 1984. He eventually retired as General Secretary in 1992 and died aged 81 in May 2010.

The speeches of Peter Heathfield (general secretary of the N.U.M.) at the Durham Miners' rally, defending the decision not to call a ballot on the strike, anticipating a break-through and saluting a new generation of miners.