John Silkin

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John Ernest Silkin , PC (* 18th March 1923 in London , † 26. April 1987 ) was a British lawyer and politician of the Labor Party , among others, between 1963 and his death in 1987 deputy of the lower house ( House of Commons ) and several times Minister was.

Life

Family background, studies and solicitor

John Ernest Silkin was the youngest of three sons of the politician Lewis Silkin, 1st Baron Silkin , who was also a member of the House of Commons between 1936 and 1950, Minister for Urban and Rural Planning from 1945 to 1950 and in 1950 as 1st Baron Silkin, of Dulwich in the County of London, was raised, making him a member of the House of Lords ( House of Lords ) , as well as his wife Rosa Neft. After his father's death on May 11, 1972, his eldest brother Arthur Silkin inherited the title of 2nd Baron Silkin, which he renounced a week later on May 18, 1972. His second eldest brother, Samuel Charles Silkin, was also a Member of the House of Commons between 1964 and 1983 and Attorney General for England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1974 to 1979, and was also a Life Peer in 1985 with the title of Baron Silkin of Dulwich , of Northleigh in the County of Oxfordshire Member of the House of Lords.

Silkin itself made after the visit of the renowned founded in 1619 Dulwich College during World War II military service as a reserve officer in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) and was last to lieutenant promoted. In addition, he completed an undergraduate degree at Trinity College of the University of Cambridge , which he completed in 1944 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA). A subsequent study of law at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, he graduated in 1946 with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.). He then completed postgraduate studies at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, which he completed in 1949 with a Master of Arts (MA). After being admitted to the bar, he began working as a solicitor in 1950 .

Member of the House of Commons and Junior Minister

After the death of Leslie Plummer on April 15, 1963 John Silkin was for the Labor Party in a by-election (by-election) on 4 July 1963 at the constituency Deptford with 12,209 votes (58.25 percent) for the first time as a deputy of the lower house ( House of Commons ) . He was re-elected in the subsequent general election and represented the constituency until it was dissolved on February 28, 1974. At the beginning of his membership in parliament, after the victory of the Labor Party in the election on October 15, 1964, he was initially Assistant Parliamentary Secretary (Assistant Whip ) of the Labor Group and subsequently, between January 11 and April 11, 1966, one of the treasury commissioners, Lord Commissioner of the Treasury and still Assistant Whip . On April 11, 1966, he dissolved Sydney Irving as Treasurer of the Household and held this position in the royal household until his replacement by Charles Gray on July 7, 1966. At the same time he was Deputy Parliamentary Secretary (Deputy Chief Whip) .

On July 4, 1966, Silkin replaced Edward Short as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and held this office until April 30, 1969, when Bob Mellish succeeded him. As such, he was also on July 5, 1966 Member of the Secret Privy Council ( Privy Council ) , he was as Parliamentary Secretary of the Treasury also Parliamentary personal union of 4 July 1966 to April 30, 1969 Supreme Director of the ruling Labor group in the House (Chief Whip of the House of Commons) . He was also Deputy Majority Leader of the House between 1968 and 1969

minister

John Ernest Silkin himself succeeded Beb Mellish on April 30, 1969 as Minister for Public Buildings and Works in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Harold Wilson and held this office until the Labor Party was defeated in the general election on June 18, 1970 . In the Labor Party's shadow cabinet, he held the role of Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Services from March 24, 1972 to March 5, 1974 . After the dissolution of his previous constituency of Deptford , he was re-elected to the House of Commons in the February 28, 1974 election in the newly created Lewisham Deptford constituency and represented this constituency until his death on April 26, 1987. In his first election, he got 22,699 Votes (54.11 percent) and was re-elected with an absolute majority or a large majority in the subsequent elections on October 10, 1974 , May 3, 1979 and June 9, 1983 .

After winning the general election on February 28, 1974, Silkin was appointed Minister for Planning and Local Government and served in Prime Minister Wilson's second cabinet from October 18, 1974 until the end of Wilson's term on May 5. April 1976 also formally as cabinet minister. In the course of the EEC membership referendum in the United Kingdom on June 5, 1975, he spoke out of the 23 cabinet members with six other ministers ( Michael Foot , Tony Benn , Peter Shore , Barbara Castle , Eric Varley and William Ross ) against further membership in the European Economic Community (EEC). He held the office of Minister for Planning and Local Government between April 8, 1976 and September 10, 1976 in the subsequent government of Prime Minister James Callaghan . Bruce Grocott served as Parliamentary Private Secretary .

In the course of a cabinet reshuffle, Silkin replaced Fred Peart on September 10, 1976 as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on September 10, 1976 and held this post until the end of Callaghan's term on May 4 1979 held. Lucy Neville-Rolfe served as his Parliamentary Private Secretary between 1977 and 1979 .

Shadow cabinet and candidacy for party chairmanship

After the Labor Party's defeat in the general election on May 3, 1979 , John Silkin took on various functions in the Labor shadow cabinet, initially as Shadow Secretary of State for Industry from July 14, 1979 to December 8, 1980 In the candidacy for the successor to James Callaghan as chairman of the Labor Party, Silkin stood and won in the first ballot on November 4, 1980 after Denis Healey (112 votes, 42.3 percent), Michael Foot (83 votes, 31.3 percent) ) with (38 votes, 14.3 percent) took third place, while Peter Shore (32 votes, 12.1 percent) took fourth place. He and Shore then waived another candidacy in the second ballot, whereupon Michael Foot with 139 votes (51.9 percent) in the second ballot on November 10, 1980 before Denis Healey (129 votes, 48.1 percent) as the new chairman of the Labor Party was elected.

In Foot's shadow cabinet, Silkin then acted between December 8, 1980 and October 30, 1983, first as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and at the same time as Shadow Minister of Defense from November 24, 1981 to October 26, 1984 (Shadow Secretary of State for Defense) .

John Ernest Silkin married the film and theater actress Rosamund John on April 21, 1950 and was married to her for 37 years until his death. From this marriage the son Rory Lewis Silkin was born on March 14, 1954.

publication

  • Changing Battlefields: The Challenge to the Labor Party , posthumous, 1990

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur Silkin (thepeerage.com)
  2. ↑ Treasurer of the Royal Household ( Hansard )
  3. ↑ PRIVY COUNSELLORS 1915 - 1968 (leighrayment.com)
  4. ^ Chief Whip (Hansard)
  5. ^ Minister of Public Buildings & Works (Hansard)
  6. ^ Minister for Planning and Local Government (Hansard)
  7. ^ Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Hansard)
personal data
SURNAME Silkin, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Silkin, John Ernest (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British politician, Member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH March 18, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 1987
Place of death London