Richard Kelley
Encyclopedia
Richard Kelley was a British
trade union
ist and left-wing Labour Party
politician from the coal mining
area of Doncaster
. He was the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Don Valley
from 1959 to 1979.
managers in opposition to miners who wanted to leave work early when their work was complete, fearing that it could lead to miners hurrying their work and ignoring safety precautions. He also served as a councillor on the West Riding of Yorkshire
County Council
from 1949 to 1959.
He was elected at the 1959 general election
as the MP for Don Valley
, and held the seat at five further general elections until he retired from the House of Commons at the 1979 general election
. Kelley was sponsored by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), and was one of the MPs affected by a decision in 1977 of the Yorkshire area of the NUM to seek the retirement at age 65 of all MPs sponsored by mining unions.
's news agency ADN
reported that Kelley had been "harassed", "threatened" and then arrested by police in West Berlin
whilst visiting the city in connection with his attendance at a conference for coexistence and disarmament in Warsaw
. The West Berlin authorities dismissed the claims, describing the incident as "trivial". In June of that year, Kelley's son Jack, then aged 23, was fined £1 for painting the slogan "ban the bomb" on a bus shelter near Doncaster, but said "it has nothing to do with my father".
Kelley opposed the Vietnam War
. In March 1967 he signed an advertisement in The Times
calling on the government of the United Kingdom
to "dissociate itself explicitly from the bombing of North Vietnam", and in April that year he was one of 59 Labour MPs to vote against the Labour government in a Commons motion on the war. He rebelled against the incomes policy
of Harold Wilson
's government, voting against the government in a division on the report stage of the Prices and Incomes Bill in June 1968, and voted against the government again in a further motion on Vietnam in December 1969.
In November 1976, Kelley was one of 33 Labour MPs denounced by the Social Democratic Alliance
(a pressure group on the right of the Labour Party) for their alleged associations with Communist and Trotskyite organisations. The MPs, who included Tony Benn
and future leader Michael Foot
, were accused by the SDA of being part of a shift in the party "in favour of intolerant Marxist totalitarianism".
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...
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...
ist and left-wing 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 from the coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
area of Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
. He was the 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) for Don Valley
Don Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
Don Valley is a parliamentary constituency which returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Created in 1918, Don Valley is a former coal mining area which has elected only Labour MPs since 1922...
from 1959 to 1979.
Career
Kelley was a miners' union secretary in Doncaster for 10 years, where he joined with National Coal BoardNational Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
managers in opposition to miners who wanted to leave work early when their work was complete, fearing that it could lead to miners hurrying their work and ignoring safety precautions. He also served as a councillor on the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
County Council
County council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.-United Kingdom:...
from 1949 to 1959.
He was elected at 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...
as the MP for Don Valley
Don Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
Don Valley is a parliamentary constituency which returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Created in 1918, Don Valley is a former coal mining area which has elected only Labour MPs since 1922...
, and held the seat at five further general elections until he retired from the House of Commons at the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
. Kelley was sponsored by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), and was one of the MPs affected by a decision in 1977 of the Yorkshire area of the NUM to seek the retirement at age 65 of all MPs sponsored by mining unions.
In Parliament
In February 1961, the German Democratic RepublicGerman Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
's news agency ADN
Allgemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst
The Allgemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst , German for General German News Service, was the state news agency in the German Democratic Republic...
reported that Kelley had been "harassed", "threatened" and then arrested by police in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
whilst visiting the city in connection with his attendance at a conference for coexistence and disarmament in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. The West Berlin authorities dismissed the claims, describing the incident as "trivial". In June of that year, Kelley's son Jack, then aged 23, was fined £1 for painting the slogan "ban the bomb" on a bus shelter near Doncaster, but said "it has nothing to do with my father".
Kelley opposed the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. In March 1967 he signed an advertisement 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...
calling on the government of the United Kingdom
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...
to "dissociate itself explicitly from the bombing of North Vietnam", and in April that year he was one of 59 Labour MPs to vote against the Labour government in a Commons motion on the war. He rebelled against the incomes policy
Incomes policy
Incomes policies in economics are economy-wide wage and price controls, most commonly instituted as a response to inflation, and usually below market level.Incomes policies have often been resorted to during wartime...
of 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...
's government, voting against the government in a division on the report stage of the Prices and Incomes Bill in June 1968, and voted against the government again in a further motion on Vietnam in December 1969.
In November 1976, Kelley was one of 33 Labour MPs denounced by the Social Democratic Alliance
Social Democratic Alliance (UK)
-Foundation:The group was founded in June 1975 by councillors and other individuals on the right wing of the Labour Party. Peter Stephenson, the editor of Socialist Commentary, became its chairman. The group claimed to stand in the tradition of Hugh Gaitskell's Campaign for Democratic Socialism,...
(a pressure group on the right of the Labour Party) for their alleged associations with Communist and Trotskyite organisations. The MPs, who included Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
and future leader Michael Foot
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
, were accused by the SDA of being part of a shift in the party "in favour of intolerant Marxist totalitarianism".