Ashley Bramall
Encyclopedia
Sir Ashley Bramall (6 January 1916 – 10 February 1999) was a British
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...

 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...

 politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

, 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,...

 for Bexley
Bexley (UK Parliament constituency)
Bexley was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Bexley district of south-east London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-History:...

 from 1946 to 1950 and Leader of the Inner London Education Authority
Inner London Education Authority
The Inner London Education Authority was the education authority for the 12 inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990.-History:...

 (ILEA) for 11 years.

Family and early career

Bramall's family were wealthy merchants from Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, but his mother was a convinced socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 and did much to convince her son to support the left in politics. He attended Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...

 briefly, before moving to Canford School
Canford School
Canford School is a coeducational independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the village of Canford Magna, near to the market town of Wimborne Minster in Dorset, in South West England. The school was founded in 1923. There are approximately 600 pupils at Canford, organised into houses...

 for the benefit of his health. He went up to Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...

 in the mid 1930s to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He was elected to chair the Oxford University Labour Club
Oxford University Labour Club
Oxford University Labour Club was founded in 1919 to provide a voice for Labour Party values and for socialism and social democracy at Oxford University, England...

 in 1938. At Oxford he was an active debater at the Oxford Union Society where he often debated with Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....

. He was Treasurer of the Union in 1939.

On the outbreak of war Bramall joined the Northamptonshire Yeomanry
Northamptonshire Yeomanry
The Northamptonshire Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army formed in 1794 as volunteer cavalry, it later served in an armoured role before being reduced to squadron level in 1956...

, into which he was commissioned in 1941. He transferred to the Reconnaissance Corps
Reconnaissance Corps
The Reconnaissance Corps or simply Recce Corps was a short-lived elite corps of the British Army whose units provided the mobile spearhead of infantry divisions from the Far East to Europe during the Second World War. It was formed from Infantry Brigade Reconnaissance Groups on 14 January 1941...

 later the same year and also served at the Army Staff College in Camberley, being promoted to Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

. After the end of the war he served in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in the Allied administration. His younger brother Edwin (known as 'Dwin') was much later to be appointed Chief of the Defence Staff and created Lord Bramall.

Parliament

Bramall had already begun his political career by fighting Fareham for 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...

 in the 1945 general election
United 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...

, and when a vacancy occurred at Bexley
Bexley (UK Parliament constituency)
Bexley was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Bexley district of south-east London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-History:...

 he was selected to fight the by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

. During the campaign the Government was forced to introduce rationing of bread, which had never been needed during the war, and many were impressed that Bramall managed to win the seat narrowly. He made a successful maiden speech
Maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country...

 outlining the difficulties in administering Germany and removing Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

-controlled institutions of government.

In the 1950 election
United 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...

, Bramall lost his seat by 133 votes to his old University adversary Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....

 with whom he always remained personally friendly. He had already taken up a career outside politics by reading for the Bar, and was called in 1949 to the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

. He specialised in landlord and tenant issues. He tried to win Bexley back in 1951 and 1959, and also made an unsuccessful attempt at Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...

 in 1955.

Municipal affairs

Bramall was active in local politics in the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster
Metropolitan Borough of Westminster
The Metropolitan Borough of Westminster was a metropolitan borough in the County of London, England, from 1900 to 1965.-City Status:By royal charter dated 29 October 1900 the borough was granted the title City of Westminster. Westminster had originally been created a city and seat of the...

 although the local boundaries made it extremely difficult for Labour candidates to win seats. The boundaries had been the same since 1900 and in the mid-1950s the Council decided to change them, using the Rateable Value of property as one way of making each ward equal in size. The local Labour Party, under Bramall's guidance and advocacy, challenged this method at a public inquiry and persuaded the Boundary Commissioner to accept a new scheme for the wards which Bramall had drawn up.

After this boundary change took effect in 1959 the Labour Party won enough seats to elect him as an Alderman. He was elected as a councillor to the new Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council and is entitled to be known as a city council, which is a rare distinction in the United Kingdom. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors...

; when he lost his seat in 1968 the Conservative
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...

 group blocked his election as an Alderman. In 1961 he was elected to the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...

 and made the transition to the Greater London Council
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...

 when that body was set up in 1964; he was one of eight people to serve as a member of the GLC throughout its existence.

Membership of the GLC made him an ex officio member of the Inner London Education Authority
Inner London Education Authority
The Inner London Education Authority was the education authority for the 12 inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990.-History:...

 and Bramall specialised in education issues. He was Chairman of ILEA from 1965 until Labour lost power in 1967. He was then chosen to lead the Labour Group. Labour won back control in 1970 and Bramall then became Leader of the authority.

Leader of ILEA

In the controversy over education in the 1970s, Bramall stood firmly behind comprehensive schools as a way of raising the educational achievements of most pupils. He was opposed to the use of corporal punishment and had it banned. However, his generally strong leadership did not prevent the scandal over the William Tyndale Junior School in Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...

 in 1975. He was given a Knighthood in 1975. Under Bramall, Labour retained control of ILEA in 1977 despite losing the GLC election. He was under pressure to stand as a candidate to replace Reg Goodwin
Reg Goodwin
Sir Reginald Eustace Goodwin was a British politician. He was Leader of the Greater London Council from 1973-77. On the moderate wing of the Labour Party, he nonetheless favoured public control of utilities.-Family background:Goodwin was from a middle-class family of five and was born in Streatham...

 as Labour Leader on the GLC in 1980, but resisted because he wanted to continue at ILEA.

When Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

 became Prime Minister she put pressure on local authorities, and especially on ILEA, to cut spending. Bramall was opposed but was not willing to go along with the far left demands for an outright confrontation and legal defiance. This made the left determined to replace him, and when Labour won GLC control in 1981 with a new left-wing majority, Bramall was voted out as ILEA leader. Knowing this was going to happen, Bramall had cleared out his office and left a note to his replacement on the desk before going to the meeting where the vote for leader was to take place.

Bramall remained on the authority and continued to fight for moderate policies, and it was a sign of the respect which the left had for him that they were prepared to chose him as figurehead Chairman of the Authority.

Retirement

Bramall made an unsuccessful attempt to remain on the directly elected ILEA in 1986 at Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....

. He was well regarded by Officers of ILEA, especially after the succession of weak far-left leaderships that followed. At his memorial service, a former Chief Officer remarked "Under Ashley Bramall, the ILEA never found it necessary to have a foreign policy".

In his retirement, Bramall held many public appointments including Directorships of the Museum of London
Museum of London
The Museum of London documents the history of London from the Prehistoric to the present day. The museum is located close to the Barbican Centre, as part of the striking Barbican complex of buildings created in the 1960s and 70s as an innovative approach to re-development within a bomb damaged...

, Chairman of the Westminster College of Further Education, and Honorary Secretary of the Theatres Advisory Council. He remained active in local politics as chair of his local party branch and surprised many by his willingness to undertake menial tasks such as delivering leaflets while in his 80s. In 1996 he acted as Agent in a local byelection which saw Mair Garside, formerly his Deputy at ILEA, elected to Westminster City Council.

He had appeared on Mastermind while Leader of ILEA in 1976, taking "British politics since 1918" as his specialised subject, and was an active member of the Masterminders' club. His second wife, Gery Bramall (who was a fellow Westminster Councillor), was also on the show.
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