Arthur Creech Jones

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Arthur Creech Jones , PC (* 15. May 1891 , † 23. October 1964 ) was a British trade union functionary and politician of the Labor Party , among others, from 1935 to 1950 and from 1954 to 1964 deputy of the lower house ( House of Commons ) and was Colonial Minister from 1946 to 1950.

Life

Union official and member of the House of Commons

Arthur Creech Jones closed in 1904 his education at the Whitehall Boy's School in Bristol and went in 1907 the age of sixteen to London , where he working as a clerk in the Ministry of War ( War Office ) recorded. In 1910 he was secretary of the League of Progressive Thought and Service (League of Progressive Thought and Service) in Dulwich and then in 1913 Secretary of the Trade and Labor Council of Camberwell . Due to his conscientious objection to military service in World War I , he was imprisoned between 1916 and 1919 and, after his release from prison, became a full-time trade union official of the TGWU (Transport and General Workers Union) , of which he was national secretary for administrative, office and supervisory affairs between 1923 and 1929 . He was then from 1929 to 1935 as organizational secretary of the Workers' Travel Association (WTA).

In the elections of November 14, 1935 Jones was for the Labor Party in the constituency Shipley first time a deputy of the lower house ( House of Commons ) selected. In his first election, he won 16,102 votes (36 percent) against competitors from the Liberal Party Percy Guy Illingworth (11,595 votes, 25.9 percent), the Conservative Party Thomas Howarth (10,998 votes, 24.6 percent) and the previous ones Conservative Party constituency holders and now non-party James Lockwood (6,025 votes, 13.5 percent) prevail.

In 1936 he was elected a member of the advisory board of the Colonial Office ( Colonial Office ) for education in the colonies and protectorates called and belonged to this body until the 1945th In 1938 he supported the activities of the West African Students' Union (WASU) in the Gold Coast colony together with the House of Commons Reginald Sorensen . Together with Rita Hinden and Frank Horrabin , he founded the Fabian Colonial Bureau , an organization closely related to the Fabian Society , as a member of the executive committee of the socialist Fabian Society , and became the first chairman of this office, which dealt with research into problems in the colonies. He was also between 1940 and 1945 as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Labor and the National Service Ernest Bevin . In addition, he was involved in the Advisory Council of the Labor Party (Labor Party Imperial Advisory Committee) and from 1943 to 1944 as vice chairman of the Elliott Commission , which dealt with questions about higher education in British West Africa . This interest in educational policy led to his collaboration with the workers 'education organization WEA (Workers' Educational Association) and the Ruskin College .

Colonial Minister 1946 to 1950

In the election of July 5, 1945 , Arthur Jones was re-elected to the Labor Party in the Shipley constituency and, after the Labor Party's victory in this election in the cabinet of Prime Minister Clement Attlee on August 4, 1945, initially assumed the post of Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Colonial Affairs (Under -Secretary of State for the Colonies) . In the course of a government reshuffle, he replaced George Henry Hall as Secretary of State for the Colonies on October 4, 1946 and held this ministerial office until his replacement by James Griffiths on February 28, 1950. October 7, 1946 he became a member of the secret Privy Council ( Privy Council ) appointed.

During his tenure as Colonial Secretary, Jones saw the need to reorganize the Colonial Department and Colonial Service to meet the changing and growing needs of the colonists. The entire process of training colonial officials had to be redesigned in accordance with the demands of the Veale Committee and the Devonshire Report, which in 1947 led to the re-establishment of courses for colonial administrators at the University of Cambridge , the University of London and the University of Oxford . He made numerous visits to the colonies and represented the United Kingdom in 1946 and between 1947 and 1948 in the negotiations of the United Nations to end the mandate for Palestine . At the end of September 1947 he finally announced the end of the mandate for Palestine, which led to the solution of the refugee crisis in the region. The entry for the refugee ship Exodus into the port of Haifa was thus free. On October 6, 1947, the guards finally withdrew from the camps and released the Exodus passengers. As colonial minister he founded the colonial development company CDC ( Colonial Development Corporation ) in 1948 and expanded research projects in the colonies. In 1948 he was also President of the London Africa Conference and initiated studies on education in the colonies, which he saw as necessary preparation for colonial self-government.

Election defeat and re-election to the lower house

In the general election on February 23, 1950 Arthur Creech Jones suffered a narrow but severe defeat when he lost his constituency of Shipley to his Conservative Party challenger Geoffrey Hirst as acting cabinet minister . Hirst was able to prevail with 18,390 votes (43.83 percent) with a majority of only 81 votes against Jones (18,309 votes, 43.64 percent), who thus left the House of Commons after 15 years and five days later on February 28, 1950 left the Attlee cabinet. From 1950 to 1954 he represented the United Kingdom at various conferences in India , the USA and Canada . In the election of October 25, 1951 , he ran for the Labor Party in the Romford constituency , but lost with 31,822 votes (49 percent) to the constituency holder of the conservative Tories, John Lockwood , who received 33,120 votes (51 percent). In the following years he was also involved between 1952 and 1954 as chairman of the British Council of Pacific Relations .

When after the death of Arthur Greenwood on June 9, 1954 on October 21, 1954 a by-election (by-election) in the constituency of Wakefield was due, Jones applied there for the return to the House of Commons. In this election he was able to prevail with 21,822 votes (58.14 percent) against the candidate of the Conservative Party and son of the later Prime Minister Harold Macmillan , Maurice Macmillan , who received 15,714 votes (41.86 percent). In the subsequent elections on May 26, 1955 and October 8, 1959 , he was re-elected by a clear absolute majority and belonged to the House of Commons until the general election on October 15, 1964 . In addition to his membership in parliament, he was active as Vice President of the Royal Commonwealth Society and the Anti-Slavery Society . He was also treasurer and advisory board member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) as well as an executive member of its Africa office. He also dealt with issues of international responsibility for developing countries and the promotion of international understanding of colonial matters, the constitutional development of new nations, especially in Africa , and the Middle East conflict . He was also a member of the Advisory Board of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and passed away eight days after leaving the House of Commons.

Publications

  • Trade unionism to-day Longmans, Green, London 1928
  • African challenge. The fallacy of federation , Africa Bureau, London 1952

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Remembering the Men who said NO. Conscientious Objectors 1916-1919
  2. ^ Secretary of State for the Colonies ( Hansard )
  3. ↑ PRIVY COUNSELLORS 1915–1968 (leighrayment.com)
personal data
SURNAME Jones, Arthur Creech
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Labor Party politician, Member of the House of Commons and union official
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1891
DATE OF DEATH October 23, 1964