for election as General Secretary. General secretaryship of TGWU First ballot (1984–1985) After being elected to succeed Moss Evans as the union's seventh general secretary in 1985, following a second ballot, Todd was also named as an honorary vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In demanding such a vote he had two objectives in mind - to stymie the Daily Mail and the Daily Express from making the most of allegations of wrongdoing to drag the Transport and General Workers' name into the dirt; and to stop the George Wright faction on his own executive using the allegations against him. Todd earned a reputation for his commitment to human rights and was a vocal opponent of apartheid in South Africa. Todd's final move before he retired was to pave the way for his successor, Bill Morris, the first black leader of a major British trade union. Retirement On his retirement, Todd received a congratulatory telegram from the Queen Mother in her capacity as an honorary member of the union's branch at Smithfield meat market. In 1995 he helped form the Romford & District Royal Marines Association and was its first chairman. He devoted some of his time in retirement to working with the deaf, for which he learnt sign language. He also published five books of poetry, proceeds of which he donated to charities; he was writing his poems on current affairs up to his final months. Death On 30 April 2005 Todd died from leukaemia, from which he had been suffering for some time. He was survived by three children, one son and two daughters and five grandchildren. Upon his death the T&G issued the following statement: Tributes were paid to him from leading figures across the labour movement, led by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair who said: "He was a greatly respected trade union leader and a good friend. Despite leading his union at a difficult time he was always a strong supporter of the Labour Party. I have always been grateful for the support he gave me in difficult circumstances when I was employment spokesman when we were changing the party’s position on employment law. He will be sadly missed". Tony Woodley remarked: ""Ron carried the trade union flame throughout the darkest days of Thatcherism, leading the T&G in very difficult years with decency, integrity and commitment. Ron always put the members' interests first and