Ray Gunter
Encyclopedia
Raymond Jones Gunter British Labour Party
politician, was born in Wales
and had a background in the railway industry and the British trade union
movement – specifically his union, the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association
(TSSA).
After seeing active service in the Second World War
, enlisting in the Royal Engineers
in 1941 and later being commissioned and reaching the rank of Captain
, he was elected to Parliament
in the 1945 general election
for the previously Conservative
seat of South East Essex
. He was a backbencher throughout the six-year Labour Government of Clement Attlee
. The Labour Home Secretary
, James Chuter Ede
, presided over a redistribution of seats in the late 1940s and Gunter's Essex seat was broken up, so he switched to the seat of Doncaster
in Yorkshire
for the 1950 general election
. Elected by a majority of only 878, his Conservative opponent, Anthony Barber, went on to unseat him by 384 votes in the 1951 general election
that saw the return of a Conservative Government under Winston Churchill
.
Gunter was associated with the right wing of the Labour Party and was a member of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee
(NEC) from 1955 to 1966 and was president of his union, TSSA, 1956–64. When George Isaacs
(aged 76) announced his decision not to stand for re-election in the strongly Labour constituency of Southwark
in South London
, Gunter secured the nomination in time for the 1959 general election
and duly returned to the Commons
as a TSSA-sponsored Member of Parliament
, with a majority of 12,340.
Following Labour's heavy defeat in the 1959 general election, its then leader, Hugh Gaitskell
, sought to revise and moderate Labour's constitution – the so-called Clause IV
dispute. The trade union leaders overwhelmingly disliked this shift and Gunter was one of the opponents. (1) Following Hugh Gaitskell's death in 1963, Harold Wilson
was elected leader of the Labour Party and Gunter continued to be a Labour shadow cabinet member.
Labour narrowly won the 1964 general election
and Harold Wilson made Gunter Minister of Labour
. The dilemma Gunter faced was his trade unionist's natural view that trade unions should be able to negotiate responsible pay rates for their members through "free collective bargaining" but on the other hand the wildcat strikes in some parts of British industry were often seen as damaging to the economy, and "wage restraint" was the alternative.
Soon after Labour's landslide victory at the 1966 general election
, the seamen's strike was where this conflict came to a head, and Gunter took the same tough line as Harold Wilson. He would later describe his stint as Minister of Labour
at this time as a "bed of nails". He sought to complete his work by bringing in a new bill drawn from the findings of the Donovan Commission report on trade union power, but Wilson reshuffled him to Minister of Power in April 1968. Gunter was rumoured to have been linked with negative leaks from Cabinet and resigned from government on 1 July 1968, stating he could no longer work in a Wilson government (2). Meanwhile, Gunter's successor in labour affairs, Barbara Castle
, saw her proposals to reduce trade union powers in her 1969 white paper, 'In Place of Strife
' fail in the teeth of concerted Trade Union
opposition.
Gunter was re-elected in his Southwark constituency at the 1970 general election
that saw the Labour government replaced by a Conservative one led by Edward Heath
. He was by now a senior opposition backbencher and resigned from Parliament
in 1972 and was succeeded by Harry Lamborn
. Gunter died in 1977. His name lives on in a block of sheltered flats for the elderly built by Southwark Council in Walworth
.
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, was born in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and had a background in the railway industry and the British trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
movement – specifically his union, the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association
Transport Salaried Staffs' Association
The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association is a trade union for "white collar" workers in the transport industry in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland...
(TSSA).
After seeing active service in 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...
, enlisting in the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
in 1941 and later being commissioned and reaching the rank of Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
, he was elected to Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
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...
for the previously 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...
seat of South East Essex
South East Essex (UK Parliament constituency)
South East Essex was a parliamentary constituency in Essex in the East of England...
. He was a backbencher throughout the six-year Labour Government of Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
. The Labour Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, James Chuter Ede
James Chuter Ede
James Chuter Ede, Baron Chuter-Ede CH, PC, DL was a British teacher, trade unionist and Labour politician. He notably served as Home Secretary under Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951.-Early life:...
, presided over a redistribution of seats in the late 1940s and Gunter's Essex seat was broken up, so he switched to the seat of Doncaster
Doncaster (UK Parliament constituency)
Doncaster was a Parliamentary constituency covering the town of Doncaster in England. The constituency was created in 1885 and abolished in 1983.- Boundaries :...
in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
for the 1950 general 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...
. Elected by a majority of only 878, his Conservative opponent, Anthony Barber, went on to unseat him by 384 votes in the 1951 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1951
The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held eighteen months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats...
that saw the return of a Conservative Government under Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
.
Gunter was associated with the right wing of the Labour Party and was a member of the Labour Party's 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,...
(NEC) from 1955 to 1966 and was president of his union, TSSA, 1956–64. When George Isaacs
George Isaacs
George Alfred Isaacs JP DL was a British politician and trades unionist who served in the government of Clement Attlee....
(aged 76) announced his decision not to stand for re-election in the strongly Labour constituency of Southwark
Southwark (UK Parliament constituency)
Southwark was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Southwark district of South London. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the English Parliament from 1295 to 1707, to the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and to the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
in South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
, Gunter secured the nomination in time for the 1959 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1959
This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...
and duly returned to the Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
as a TSSA-sponsored 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,...
, with a majority of 12,340.
Following Labour's heavy defeat in the 1959 general election, its then leader, Hugh Gaitskell
Hugh Gaitskell
Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell CBE was a British Labour politician, who held Cabinet office in Clement Attlee's governments, and was the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955, until his death in 1963.-Early life:He was born in Kensington, London, the third and youngest...
, sought to revise and moderate Labour's constitution – the so-called Clause IV
Clause IV
Clause IV historically refers to part of the 1918 text of the British Labour Party constitution which set out the aims and values of the party. Before its revision in 1995, its application was the subject of considerable dispute.-Text:...
dispute. The trade union leaders overwhelmingly disliked this shift and Gunter was one of the opponents. (1) Following Hugh Gaitskell's death in 1963, Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
was elected leader of the Labour Party and Gunter continued to be a Labour shadow cabinet member.
Labour narrowly won the 1964 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1964
The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...
and Harold Wilson made Gunter Minister of Labour
Secretary of State for Employment
The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In 1995 it was merged with Secretary of State for Education to make the Secretary of State for Education and Employment...
. The dilemma Gunter faced was his trade unionist's natural view that trade unions should be able to negotiate responsible pay rates for their members through "free collective bargaining" but on the other hand the wildcat strikes in some parts of British industry were often seen as damaging to the economy, and "wage restraint" was the alternative.
Soon after Labour's landslide victory at the 1966 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1966
The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs...
, the seamen's strike was where this conflict came to a head, and Gunter took the same tough line as Harold Wilson. He would later describe his stint as Minister of Labour
Secretary of State for Employment
The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In 1995 it was merged with Secretary of State for Education to make the Secretary of State for Education and Employment...
at this time as a "bed of nails". He sought to complete his work by bringing in a new bill drawn from the findings of the Donovan Commission report on trade union power, but Wilson reshuffled him to Minister of Power in April 1968. Gunter was rumoured to have been linked with negative leaks from Cabinet and resigned from government on 1 July 1968, stating he could no longer work in a Wilson government (2). Meanwhile, Gunter's successor in labour affairs, Barbara Castle
Barbara Castle
Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn , PC, GCOT was a British Labour Party politician....
, saw her proposals to reduce trade union powers in her 1969 white paper, 'In Place of Strife
In Place of Strife
In Place of Strife was a UK Government white paper written in 1969. It was a proposed act to alter the functionality of trade unions in the United Kingdom, but was never passed into law....
' fail in the teeth of concerted Trade Union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
opposition.
Gunter was re-elected in his Southwark constituency at the 1970 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
that saw the Labour government replaced by a Conservative one led by 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 by now a senior opposition backbencher and resigned from Parliament
Resignation from the British House of Commons
Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. To circumvent this prohibition, a legal fiction is used...
in 1972 and was succeeded by Harry Lamborn
Harry Lamborn
Harry George Lamborn , British Labour Party politician, was born in London and had a background in the British Trade Union movement — specifically his union USDAW, local government and the London Co-operative movement....
. Gunter died in 1977. His name lives on in a block of sheltered flats for the elderly built by Southwark Council in Walworth
Walworth, London
Walworth is an inner-city district in the London Borough of Southwark. Walworth probably derives its name from the Old English "Wealhworth" which meant Welsh farm. It is located south east of Charing Cross and near to Camberwell and Elephant and Castle.The major streets in Walworth are the Old...
.