Philip Mitchell obituary

Other lives: Chemistry lecturer who was a Labour party activist in Berkshire and long-serving school governor

My father, Philip Mitchell, who has died aged 91, was a chemistry lecturer at Reading University and an active member of the Labour party.

Philip was born in Stratford upon Avon to Freda (nee Peacey), a domestic servant, and Charles Mitchell, a carpenter. He went to the town’s King Edward VI school and at 18 was called up to do national service. When he refused to serve on moral grounds, the authorities rejected his request to be treated as a conscientious objector and he was sent to Stafford prison for nine months.

Having gained a place at Oxford University, he was worried that his decision would jeopardise his future education, but in the end he was allowed to study chemistry at Oriel College. While there he was chair of the Oxford University Labour Club and was active in demonstrations, notably against apartheid in South Africa.

After staying on for a DPhil at Oxford, where he focused on research into the chemical element molybdenum, in 1961 he became a lecturer at Nottingham University and then moved in 1965 to Reading University, where he remained until his retirement in 2001.

Outside his academic work Philip devoted a good deal of time to politics. During the 1970s and 80s he chaired the Reading Labour party and the Berkshire Labour party.

He was a governor of Reading school for more than 30 years and chair for more than two decades; when he finished in that role its science centre was named after him.

As time passed Philip’s politics mellowed slightly, and, with the arrival of granddaughters, he took up with relish the role of an indulgent grandparent.

His long-term partner, Marina Taylor, predeceased him. He is survived by me – his daughter from an earlier relationship with Jane – and by two grandchildren, Amelia and Chloe.