Alfred Edwards (politician)
Encyclopedia
Alfred Edwards was a British
politician who served for fifteen years as a Member of Parliament
(MP). His origins were as a company director in the foundry
industry in Middlesbrough
, which led him into conflict with the Labour Party
when it proposed to nationalise
the iron and steel industries; profoundly unable to support the party, he crossed the floor
and became an active Conservative Party
supporter.
and he was brought up in the town. He was only educated to elementary school
level, leaving to work as a labourer in the Diamond grit works foundry
. His obituary in The Times
said that "by ability and sheer hard work he rose to become a director of an old-established local ironworks", this being Messrs. Harrison Bros. (England) Ltd. As a director, he had time to pursue other business interests in the town, and also farmed in Guisborough
. He was also a frequent visitor to the United States
on lecture tours.
, and the next year he was elected to Middlesbrough Town Council. He was chosen as the party's candidate for Middlesbrough East
, and in the 1935 general election
he fought a tense three way contest against the sitting Liberal Party
Member and a Conservative Party
challenger. In the event the sitting Member's vote collapsed, and Edwards was elected with a tiny majority of 67 over the Conservative candidate.
calling for the location of industry to be planned, in which he called for an area of 40 miles around London
to be closed to new industry. He was concerned about a government proposal to help the iron and steel industry in Jarrow
, arguing that it would become a competitor to his own constituency. In April 1937 he opposed the Conservative government's proposal for assistance to 'special areas', complaining that it had the deliberate intention of depriving Middlesbrough of the advantages other areas were to have. He made a failed attempt to get Middlesbrough included during the passage of the Bill, in which he was joined by the Middlesbrough West
MP Frank Kingsley Griffith
.
In 1937 he took up the issue of producing oil from coal, and claimed that the Falmouth Committee looking into the question had deliberately restricted its remit and sent an insulting letter to a company which might have helped it. Early in 1939 he protested against criticism of the police voiced in Parliament by Communist Party of Great Britain
MP Willie Gallacher
.
to join together to deny raw material to aggressive nations. When conscription
was announced, Edwards pressed the Prime Minister to commit to conscription of wealth as well as man-power. He complained that "two gentlemen who are dictators in certain European countries" had a monopoly of the British press.
During the Second World War
Edwards kept up pressure on the Government to assist industry. In 1941 he proposed that all import duties be abolished, and in December the same year he made a speech deploring the low rate of production placing the blame on the Treasury
's "throttling hands". At the time when Sir Oswald Mosley
was released from detention due to ill health, Edwards put down a question to ask how long it would take for him to get better before his return to prison. He called for the war-time coalition government to be broken up in January 1944, so that the country could benefit from "organized opposition". The issue of housing rebuilding concerned him, and in September 1944 he announced a scheme for a garden city
to be built on the outskirts of Guisborough
.
with a majority of 8,075, Edwards raised the plight of some new Members of Parliament who were unable to find anywhere to stay in London. Edwards had been a critic of the Excess Profits Tax
during the war, and called for its abolition after the end of the war, a campaign he continued despite Government resistance.
, which was said to be "unshakable", led Edwards to get involved in a prolonged dispute over whether Christian Science 'nurses' should be able to use that title despite not being State Registered Nurses
. In 1945 he strongly opposed Conservative MP Hugh Linstead
's motion to prevent them doing so, arguing that the Christian Science nurses did not compete with other nurses. When the Ministry of Health acquired the power to control the title 'nurse', he moved his own motion to allow the Christian Science use to continue, arguing that it had been stopped through a loophole in the law.
and efficiency as a contradiction in terms.
The Labour Party called Edwards before a board of the National Executive Committee
to explain himself, and the party General Secretary Morgan Phillips
wrote to him asking for a written undertaking about his future political conduct. Edwards failed to give a satisfactory response and was expelled from the party on 16 May 1948.
but he accepted invitations to speak from Conservative Party bodies. Speaking to the City of London
Young Conservatives in July 1948 he apologised on behalf of his former party for Aneurin Bevan
's attack on the Conservatives as "lower than vermin". Edwards began to argue against nationalisation as a whole, and claimed that few Labour Party MPs thought nationalisation was essential to socialism. When he suggested a campaign against steel nationalisation, the Steel Defence Campaign was established.
In August 1949, after his Parliamentary campaign against the Steel Bill had proved unsuccessful, Edwards announced that he had joined the Middlesbrough Conservative Association and applied for the Conservative Party whip
in Parliament. He was immediately adopted as the Conservative candidate for his constituency, and made a speech praising private enterprise and denouncing Labour Party extremism.
, at which he made steel nationalisation the main issue. The Times
commented that "his meetings in Labour wards have the painful atmosphere of lessons in which the master is unteaching the last few years' work in one short period to a class unhampered by politeness". In the end, Edwards lost his seat by 16,783 votes to Hilary Marquand
, the Minister of Pensions
who had moved from his previous seat in Cardiff East
.
In March 1953 Edwards was adopted as Conservative candidate for The Wrekin
, a Shropshire
division where Labour had a majority of 1,804. However, he was compelled to resign the candidacy in August 1954 owing to pressure of business commitments.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
politician who served for fifteen years as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP). His origins were as a company director in the foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
industry in Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
, which led him into conflict with the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
when it proposed to nationalise
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
the iron and steel industries; profoundly unable to support the party, he crossed the floor
Crossing the floor
In politics, crossing the floor has two meanings referring to a change of allegiance in a Westminster system parliament.The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches...
and became an active Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
supporter.
Family and business
Edwards' father Thomas was from MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
and he was brought up in the town. He was only educated to elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
level, leaving to work as a labourer in the Diamond grit works foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
. His obituary in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
said that "by ability and sheer hard work he rose to become a director of an old-established local ironworks", this being Messrs. Harrison Bros. (England) Ltd. As a director, he had time to pursue other business interests in the town, and also farmed in Guisborough
Guisborough
Guisborough is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England....
. He was also a frequent visitor to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on lecture tours.
Middlesbrough politics
In 1931 Edwards joined the Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
, and the next year he was elected to Middlesbrough Town Council. He was chosen as the party's candidate for Middlesbrough East
Middlesbrough East (UK Parliament constituency)
Middlesbrough East was a parliamentary constituency in the town of Middlesbrough in North East England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system....
, and in the 1935 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1935
The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...
he fought a tense three way contest against the sitting Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member and a Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
challenger. In the event the sitting Member's vote collapsed, and Edwards was elected with a tiny majority of 67 over the Conservative candidate.
Parliament
Edwards began his Parliamentary career by moving a motionMotion (democracy)
A motion is a formal step to introduce a matter for consideration by a group. It is a common concept in the procedure of trade unions, students' unions, corporations, and other deliberative assemblies...
calling for the location of industry to be planned, in which he called for an area of 40 miles around London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to be closed to new industry. He was concerned about a government proposal to help the iron and steel industry in Jarrow
Jarrow
Jarrow is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.-Foundation:The Angles re-occupied...
, arguing that it would become a competitor to his own constituency. In April 1937 he opposed the Conservative government's proposal for assistance to 'special areas', complaining that it had the deliberate intention of depriving Middlesbrough of the advantages other areas were to have. He made a failed attempt to get Middlesbrough included during the passage of the Bill, in which he was joined by the Middlesbrough West
Middlesbrough West (UK Parliament constituency)
Middlesbrough West was a parliamentary constituency in the town of Middlesbrough in North East England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system....
MP Frank Kingsley Griffith
Frank Kingsley Griffith
Frank Kingsley Griffith was a British Liberal Party politician, barrister and County Court judge.-Early life:...
.
In 1937 he took up the issue of producing oil from coal, and claimed that the Falmouth Committee looking into the question had deliberately restricted its remit and sent an insulting letter to a company which might have helped it. Early in 1939 he protested against criticism of the police voiced in Parliament by Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
MP Willie Gallacher
Willie Gallacher
William "Willie" Gallacher was a Scottish trade unionist, activist and communist. He was one of the leading figures of the Shop Stewards' Movement in wartime Glasgow and a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain...
.
Second World War
Edwards greeted the threat of war with concern that the British Empire had supplied raw materials to enable Germany, Italy and Japan build up vast armaments. He called for the United Kingdom and United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to join together to deny raw material to aggressive nations. When conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
was announced, Edwards pressed the Prime Minister to commit to conscription of wealth as well as man-power. He complained that "two gentlemen who are dictators in certain European countries" had a monopoly of the British press.
During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Edwards kept up pressure on the Government to assist industry. In 1941 he proposed that all import duties be abolished, and in December the same year he made a speech deploring the low rate of production placing the blame on the Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
's "throttling hands". At the time when Sir Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
was released from detention due to ill health, Edwards put down a question to ask how long it would take for him to get better before his return to prison. He called for the war-time coalition government to be broken up in January 1944, so that the country could benefit from "organized opposition". The issue of housing rebuilding concerned him, and in September 1944 he announced a scheme for a garden city
Garden city movement
The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts" , containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and...
to be built on the outskirts of Guisborough
Guisborough
Guisborough is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England....
.
Excess profits tax
Re-elected in the 1945 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...
with a majority of 8,075, Edwards raised the plight of some new Members of Parliament who were unable to find anywhere to stay in London. Edwards had been a critic of the Excess Profits Tax
Excess profits tax
In the United States, an excess profits tax is a tax, some say excise tax, on any profit above a certain amount. A predominantly wartime fiscal instrument, the tax was designed primarily to capture wartime profits that exceeded normal peacetime profits....
during the war, and called for its abolition after the end of the war, a campaign he continued despite Government resistance.
Christian Science
His faith as a Christian ScientistChristian Science
Christian Science is a system of thought and practice derived from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible. It is practiced by members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist as well as some others who are nonmembers. Its central texts are the Bible and the Christian Science textbook,...
, which was said to be "unshakable", led Edwards to get involved in a prolonged dispute over whether Christian Science 'nurses' should be able to use that title despite not being State Registered Nurses
Registered nurse
A registered nurse is a nurse who has graduated from a nursing program at a university or college and has passed a national licensing exam. A registered nurse helps individuals, families, and groups to achieve health and prevent disease...
. In 1945 he strongly opposed Conservative MP Hugh Linstead
Hugh Linstead
Sir Hugh Nicholas Linstead OBE was a British pharmaceutical chemist and barrister who served as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Putney for 22 years. Linstead had significant business interests in the pharmaceutical industry...
's motion to prevent them doing so, arguing that the Christian Science nurses did not compete with other nurses. When the Ministry of Health acquired the power to control the title 'nurse', he moved his own motion to allow the Christian Science use to continue, arguing that it had been stopped through a loophole in the law.
Steel nationalisation
In 1948 Edwards hit trouble with his party over its proposal to nationalise the iron and steel industry. He spoke out against the proposal, based on his experience in the industry; which his local party felt was going back on election pledges to support it. In April 1948, the local party passed a resolution declaring that they had lost all confidence in him and calling on him to resign his seat. Edwards declared he would ignore the resolution. He intensified his criticism, describing the Civil serviceCivil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
and efficiency as a contradiction in terms.
The Labour Party called Edwards before a board of the National Executive Committee
National Executive Committee
The National Executive Committee or NEC is the chief administrative body of the UK Labour Party. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affiliated trade unions, the Parliamentary Labour Party and European Parliamentary Labour Party, Constituency Labour Parties,...
to explain himself, and the party General Secretary Morgan Phillips
Morgan Phillips
Morgan Walter Phillips was a colliery worker and trade union activist who became the General Secretary of the British Labour Party, involved in two of the party's election victories....
wrote to him asking for a written undertaking about his future political conduct. Edwards failed to give a satisfactory response and was expelled from the party on 16 May 1948.
Conservative Party
Edwards at first sat in Parliament as an IndependentIndependent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
but he accepted invitations to speak from Conservative Party bodies. Speaking to the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
Young Conservatives in July 1948 he apologised on behalf of his former party for Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
's attack on the Conservatives as "lower than vermin". Edwards began to argue against nationalisation as a whole, and claimed that few Labour Party MPs thought nationalisation was essential to socialism. When he suggested a campaign against steel nationalisation, the Steel Defence Campaign was established.
In August 1949, after his Parliamentary campaign against the Steel Bill had proved unsuccessful, Edwards announced that he had joined the Middlesbrough Conservative Association and applied for the Conservative Party whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
in Parliament. He was immediately adopted as the Conservative candidate for his constituency, and made a speech praising private enterprise and denouncing Labour Party extremism.
Defeat in 1950
He experienced a turbulent campaign during the 1950 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1950
The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...
, at which he made steel nationalisation the main issue. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
commented that "his meetings in Labour wards have the painful atmosphere of lessons in which the master is unteaching the last few years' work in one short period to a class unhampered by politeness". In the end, Edwards lost his seat by 16,783 votes to Hilary Marquand
Hilary Marquand
Hilary Adair Marquand was a British Labour Party politician.He was educated at Cardiff High School and at University College, Cardiff where he studied history and economics...
, the Minister of Pensions
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a post in the British Cabinet, responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions. It was created on 8 June 2001 by the merger of the Employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security.The Ministry...
who had moved from his previous seat in Cardiff East
Cardiff East (UK Parliament constituency)
Cardiff East was a parliamentary constituency in Cardiff which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1950 general election.- Members of Parliament :...
.
Conservative candidacies
Edwards was then picked as Conservative Party candidate for Newcastle-upon-Tyne East, which was still Labour held but more marginal. When steel nationalisation took effect, he was compelled to resign from the board of Gjers, Mills and Co. Ltd., of Ayresome Ironworks Middlesbrough, when the Iron and Steel Corporation informed him of a policy that only executive directors should hold office in nationalised companies. Edwards lost the 1951 election to Labour, but by only 2,771 votes.In March 1953 Edwards was adopted as Conservative candidate for The Wrekin
The Wrekin (UK Parliament constituency)
The Wrekin is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 1918. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
, a Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
division where Labour had a majority of 1,804. However, he was compelled to resign the candidacy in August 1954 owing to pressure of business commitments.