Aneurin Bevanwas selected as the Labour Partys parliamentary candidate for Ebbw Vale for the 1929 General Election. Bevan was critical of the leadership of the British Army, which he felt was class bound and inflexible. Aneurin had a stammer as a child which he would later overcome and be recognised as a great public speaker. After a Labour landslide victory in 1945, Clement Attlee appointed Bevan Minister of Health, with a remit that also covered housing, given the severe post-war shortage. [91], Later the same year, the Labour Party were defeated at the general election. KS2 All About Aneurin Bevan PowerPoint (Teacher-Made) [12] In Parliament, he became noticed as a harsh critic of those he felt opposed the working man and woman. During the 1926 General Strike, Bevan emerged as one of the leaders of the South Wales miners. But it means abandonment of the class struggle and the subservience of the British workers to their own employers. [40] Bevan now called unsuccessfully for a Popular Front against fascism under the leadership of the Labour Party, including even anti-fascist Tories. The statue of Aneurin Bevan (1897-1960) by the late Robert Thomas on Queen Street Cardiff. He was born in Tredegar, Wales, on 15th November 1897. [105] After the 1955 general election, Attlee retired as Labour leader. [1] The town was situated in the South Wales Valleys and was on the northern edge of the South Wales coalfield. Find out more about how the BBC is covering the. "[55] At the beginning of the 1945 general election campaign, Bevan told his audience that his goal was to eliminate any opposition to the Labour programme: "We have been the dreamers, we have been the sufferers, now we are the builders. These numbers were reached by lowering the quality standards originally put forward by Bevan, with council houses featuring gardens being largely dropped in favour of tower blocks and flats. [60] He earned a rebuke from Attlee, but Bevan contended that his Welsh mining constituency did not send him to Parliament to "dress up", and he declined to wear formal attire at further Buckingham Palace functions. By 1932, Mosley's New Party had migrated from the left over to the far-right of British politics and was rebranded as the British Union of Fascists. A colourful public personality and a brilliant spontaneous debater, he had great personal charm but was sometimes so rude to opponents that Churchill once called him a merchant of discourtesy. After his defeat as party leader by Hugh Gaitskell (1955), he accepted his partys policies and became shadow foreign secretary. My history hero: Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan (1897-1960) Bevan was a great personal charm but was sometimes so rude to opponents that Churchill once called him a merchant of discourtesy. [112] Speaking at the 1957 Labour Party conference, he decried unilateral nuclear disarmament, saying "It would send a British Foreign Secretary naked into the conference-chamber". Aneurin's name is pronounced 'uh-ny-rin'. Bevan ended up in a fist fight with a group of miners who refused to strike over his rejection. [7], Bevan became a well-known local orator and was seen by his employers, the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company, as a troublemaker. His work in the mines paid off as he gained sponsorship from the South Wales Miners Federation to study at Central Labour College in 1919. London.A man presents Mr Aneurin (Nye) Bevan, Minister of Health, to a large gathering of National Federation of Building Trades Operatives - natural sound. Despite his conflict with Attlee, Bevan was instrumental in developing a program that oversaw the building of 850,000 new homes between 1945 and 1950, which were good quality houses, owned by local councils and rented out to people at affordable prices. [128], Bevan was particularly noted for his public speaking, being described by Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell, as "the greatest parliamentary speaker since Charles James Fox". [70][71] The aim was to create new homes and communities with a place for all sections of society: We should try to introduce in our modern villages and towns what was always the lovely feature of English and Welsh villages, where the doctor, the grocer, the butcher and the farm labourer all lived in the same street. He died on July 6, 1960, leaving a significant legacy, namely the National Health Service. [87] The Labour MP David Marquand has stated that the savings were introduced by Gaitskell simply to "impose his will" upon Bevan who he saw as a political rival. [69][70] The removal of the criteria of "working class" from local authority housing provision was seen as a first step, widening access to the council housing that was becoming an ever larger part of the UK housing stock and which made up a majority of new homes built after the war. Aneurin is second from right on the back row and his brother Billy is second right on front row. In 1934 he married another Labour MP, Jennie Lee. [47] His fierce opposition made him unpopular with some portions of the public at the time, his wife later described how the couple would frequently receive parcels filled with excrement at their home.[48]. [82] It was later claimed that his words had cost Labour more than two million votes. Aneurin Bevan | Founder of the National Health Service There was a particularly large increase in marginal tax rates for wealthy business owners. Bevan always stood up for the underdog, and was a voice for the unemployed in the period between the two world wars when joblessness was a major domestic political issue. [42], In August 1939 came the MolotovRibbentrop Pact, a non-aggression pact between the Nazi and Soviet governments that shocked democratic governments around the world. [50], Bevan was subject to further disciplinary action in 1944, when he deliberately voted against Labour's stance on new defence regulations. After two years at Central Labour College, London, he entered politics and in 1929 was elected to the House of Commons as Labour member from Ebbw Vale. Throughout World War II he was a vigorous critic of Winston Churchills coalition government but was equally critical of his own party. [46] Historian Max Hastings described Bevan's role in Parliament during the war as "his figures were accurate but his scorn was at odds with the spirit of the momentfull of gratitude, as was the prime minister". Bevan's past association with Mosley would be used against him in subsequent years by his political rivals. Get time period newsletters, special offers and weekly programme release emails. This club was aimed at helping members in monetary terms in their times of need. Why this is so it is not difficult to understand, if you view everything from the angle of a strictly individualistic competitive society. [111], Bevan dismayed many of his supporters when he suddenly reversed his opposition to nuclear weapons. [101] He later said that he had resigned his position to "call attention to the fact that their movement was in grave crisis", and stated his belief that he would have been party chairman by the following year if he had remained. His wage of 5 a week was paid by the members of the local Miners' Lodge. [95] According to The Times Literary Supplement, the book was a "dithyramb with meanderings into the many side-tracks of Mr Bevan's private and public experience". Icon of 1960s Britain: Who Was Mary Quant? Along with this, the Medical Practices Committee was to oversee the distribution of GP practices a proposal which the previous Coalition Minister had withdrawn after opposition from the British Medical Association. Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a Welsh politician born on November 15, 1897. However, by the end of his tenure, he had declared Bevan as "the best minister we have had". They have made us ashamed of the things of which formerly we were proud. [102], In March 1955, when Britain was preparing for Operation Grapple, the testing of its first hydrogen bomb, Bevan led a revolt of 57 Labour MPs and abstained on a key vote. 3. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. After Bevan left the Health ministry in 1951 he could never regain his level of success and feuded with fellow Labour leaders, using his strong political base as a weapon. Bevan passed on July 6, 1960, at age 62 in his Asheridge Farm home in Chesham, Buckinghamshire a year after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. Although he was defeated, he gained attention from his peers and he won a scholarship to the Central Labour College in London, sponsored by the South Wales Miners' Federation. [Nye] was never a hypocrite. Get out! In 1959, Bevan was elected deputy leader of the Labour Party, although he was already suffering from terminal cancer. Read more. [113] According to the journalist Paul Routledge, Donald Bruce, a former MP and Parliamentary Private Secretary and adviser to Bevan, had told him that Bevan's shift on the disarmament issue was the result of discussions with the Soviet government, where they advised him to push for British retention of nuclear weapons so they could possibly be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the United States.[114]. [43] Bevan was relieved that the country had united against Nazi Germany in the fight against fascism to provide a common enemy away from the working class. Though described as an outstanding back-bench critic and an excellent debater, Bevan had long clashed with Attlee, even before being in his cabinet, because he thought he hadnt held the Tory party to account properly throughout World War Two. Bevan was not good academically and was at a time repeated for a year in school. Aneurin Bevan. Conway is in the middle of the picture. A powerful speaker, debater and champion of the working class, Bevan was voted number one in the 100 Welsh Heroes poll, a response to find the publics favourite Welsh people of all time. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. Use the tabs above to learn about Nye Bevan's life, work and ideas, as well as the history of the NHS. After the war, Bevan was chosen as the Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's new Labour government, becoming the youngest member of the cabinet at 47, with his remit also including housing. Additionally, he was a brilliant spontaneous debater and a colorful public personality. Former Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan ended his Prime Ministers Questions two days after Bevans death with a tribute to him, describing him as a great personality and a great national figure. Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC (/narn bvn/; Welsh:[an.rn]; 15 November 1897 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government in which he spearheaded the creation of the British National Health Service. KidzSearch Safe Wikipedia for Kids. Number 10, The Circle, was home to the Tredegar Medical Aid Society, which was used as a blueprint by Aneurin Bevan when he set up the National Health Service for the UK in 1948. Thus, the responsibility for instituting a new and comprehensive National Health Service, as well as tackling the country's severe post-war housing shortage, was given to Bevan, the youngest member of Attlee's Cabinet in his first ministerial position at the age of 47. The Labour conference voted to drop its opposition to rearmament. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Born into a working class family in Monmouthshire, Wales, Bevan worked in a coal mine as a teenager, and it was through a miners union that he first became interested in politics. "[81] The comment inspired the creation of the Vermin Club by angry Conservatives, who attacked Bevan for years for the metaphor. His father died by pneumoconiosis (a lung condition caused by long term inhalation of coal dust) but no compensation was paid to him, as it was not classed as an industrial disease under the Workman's Compensation Act. Bevan had been a supporter of the Liberal Party in his youth, but was converted to socialism by the writings of Robert Blatchford in The Clarion and joined the Independent Labour Party. BBC - History - Aneurin Bevan Photo by No Swan So Fine Wikimedia Commons. Bevan first worked as a miner during his teens where he became involved in local miner's union politics. Image Credit: http://www.cradleofnhs.org.uk/nye.htm / Wikimedia Commons. He was adept at construction and added several modern features when the family moved to 7 Charles Street, installing the first gas stove in the street, an inside toilet and running hot water. Welsh Greats - Aneurin Bevan - YouTube Inspired by the Tredegar Medical Aid Society in his hometown in South Wales, Bevan led the campaign for a National Health Service to provide medical care free at point-of-need across the UK, regardless of wealth. [45] Bevan also feared that allowing Churchill to continue unopposed and unchallenged in Parliament during the war would leave him almost unbeatable for the Labour Party in future elections. BBC Wales documentary, originally aired December 18th 2012.Aneurin Bevan (pronounced /narn/; Welsh: [an.rin]; 15 November 1897 - 6 July 1960), often k. Portrait of Aneurin Bevan. His opposition to the Labour leadership's approach was partly based on his view that the leadership of the Labour Party was not demanding assurances from the Government on its foreign policy as a price for the party's support for re-armament as expressed in his speech to the Bournemouth Conference of that year: we should say to the country we are prepared to make whatever sacrifices are necessary, to give whatever arms are necessary to fight Fascist powers and in order to consolidate world peace[39]. He was Chief of Staff in Spain, he won the Battle of the Ebro, and he is a sergeant. Get out! [134][135] Numerous institutions bear Bevan's name, including the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, and Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan, a hospital located within his old Ebbw Vale constituency. Bevan's reputation as a hard-line socialist typically preceded him: Sir William Douglas, who served as Bevan's deputy in the Ministry of Health, had initially stated that he would "never work with a man like that". There, he spent two years studying economics, politics and history. Two of the key elements of Bevan's proposals were this nationalisation of the hospital services and the abolition of the sale and purchase of goodwill by general practitioners. Photo by Elliott & Fry Wikimedia Commons. The memorial stones of Aneurin Bevan in Tredegar, 2011. To achieve mastery as a speaker, he had first to overcome a speech impediment. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. He became a trades union activist and won a scholarship to study in London. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. He was cremated at Gwent Crematorium, Croesyceiliog. Aneurin Bevan and the setting up of the NHS - BBC Bitesize Aneurin Bevan was born on November 15, 1897, in Tredegar in Wales. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Photo by Lesbardd Wikimedia Commons. When the strike started on 3 May 1926, Bevan soon emerged as one of the leaders of the South Wales miners. In 2004, more than 44 years after his death, he was voted first in a list of 100 Welsh Heroes, having been credited for his contribution to the founding of the welfare state in the UK. He was the son of coal miner David Bevan and Phoebe (ne Prothero), a seamstress. One of ten children (though four died in infancy and one at eight years old), Bevans father was a coal miner and Baptist, while his mother a seamstress and follower of Methodism. Top 10 Interesting facts about Aneurin Bevan - Discover Walks Reciting long passages by William Morris with the help of an elocution tutor, Bevan gradually began to overcome the stammer that he had since childhood. He first became an MP for Ebbw Vale in 1929. [1][3], The couple had ten children altogethersix boys and four girlsalthough four died in infancy and one died at the age of eight. Plaque, Aneurin Bevan memorial stones, Tredegar. He was convinced that. He was born to David Bevan a coal miner and Phoebe nee Prothero a seamstress as one of their ten children. This was after he had won a seat on the Monmouthshire County Council in 1928. [45][by whom? Aneurin Bevan Biography, Life, Interesting Facts His contribution to the Welfare State has been immense. Bevan died from stomach cancer in 1960 at the age of 62. Image Credit: https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw58048/Aneurin-Bevan / Wikimedia Commons, The Road to the Crown - Elizabeth I's Coronation Procession, Built by a Giantess? Nye gave us the greatest Socalist model ever seen in 1948. Aneurin Bevan with his eye on the Ball. Bevan also failed in a bid to become deputy leader, losing out to Jim Griffiths. [86] However, three months after his appointment, Hugh Gaitskell introduced a proposal of prescription charges for dental care and spectaclescreated to save a potential 25m to meet the financial demands imposed by the Korean War. He was readmitted in November, the same year after he agreed to desist from involving himself in campaigns that opposed the declared policy of the Party. Bevan followed his advice, often practising his speeches to his friends to perfect his speech and wording, and remarked that Conway's words were the "best advice I ever had". His agitations for a united socialist front of all parties of the left (including the Communist Party of Great Britain) led to his brief expulsion from the Labour Party from March to November 1939 (along with Stafford Cripps, C. P. Trevelyan and three others). His father was a miner and the poor working class family in which Bevan grew up gave him first-hand experience of the problems. [104] The Parliamentary Labour Party voted 141 to 113 to withdraw the whip from him, but it was restored within a month, due to his popularity. However, the. Aneurin Bevan Facts: Aneurin Bevan was a Welsh Labour politician widely considered the architect of the National Health Service. In Parliament, Bevan argued that this was the logical outcome of the government's foreign policy. Lee became a considerable influence upon Bevans career. FIGHT FOR OUR NHS free at the point of need for all. Before entering Parliament, Bevan was involved in miner's union politics and was a leading figure in the 1926 general strike. At the start of World War Two the government realised that, if it was to cope with the huge number of anticipated . His remains were cremated at Gwent Crematorium in Croesyceiliog in a private family ceremony. Bevan's maternal grandfather John was a blacksmith who had moved to Tredegar from Hay-on-Wye to work in the Bedwellty mines. Born in a modest family, Bevan's exposure to poverty and deprivation gave him a first-hand experience of unfortunate condition of . Indeed, these factors, exacerbated by post-war restrictions on the availability of building materials and skilled labour, collectively served to limit Bevan's achievements in this area. As a result of this success, he was picked as the Labour Party candidate for Ebbw Vale, then easily held the seat in the 1929 General Election, receiving more than twice the number of votes as the Liberal candidate. Rediscovering Richard III with Matt Lewis, Rome and the Amalfi Coast with Tristan Hughes, Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, How Rome Became the Sole Superpower in the Mediterranean, Charles Martel: A Heroic Leader of Medieval Europe. He compared Gamal Abdel Nasser with Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, from One Thousand and One Nights. [42] He emphasised that the government had no arguments to persuade young men to fight "except merely in another squalid attempt to defend themselves against the redistribution of international swag". [60] Bevan tested this newfound solidarity early on by arriving to a royal banquet at St James's Palace wearing a navy lounge suit. A blue plaque was erected in 2015 by English Heritage at 23 Cliveden Place, Chelsea, London SW1W 8HD, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. [93] In 1952 Bevan published In Place of Fear,[94] "the most widely read socialist book" of the period, according to a highly critical right-wing Labour MP Anthony Crosland. [31] In 1936 he joined the board of the new socialist newspaper Tribune. [2] He was a member of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion and wrote his own poems, one of which won an inter-chapel eisteddfod. After his resignation, Bevan served as Shadow Foreign Secretary from 1955 to 1959. Aneurin Bevan, was born at 32 Charles Street, Tredegar, on 15th November 1897. He was the sixth of ten children born to Phoebe and David Bevan, of whom only eight survived infancy and only six to adulthood. [22], Soon after Bevan entered Parliament, he was briefly attracted to Smethwick Labour MP Oswald Mosley's arguments,[24] becoming one of the 17 signatories of the Mosley Memorandum in the context of the MacDonald government's repeated economic crises,[25] including the doubling of unemployment levels. KS2 All About Aneurin Bevan PowerPoint (teacher made) - Twinkl Bevan called for the nationalisation of the coal industry and advocated the opening of a Second Front in Western Europe to help the Soviet Union in its fight with Germany. [132] In 2002, Bevan was voted as the 45th greatest Briton of all time by the BBC public opinion poll, 100 Greatest Britons. [100] In April 1954, Bevan resigned from the Parliamentary Labour Party, having been rebuked by Attlee after accusing the Labour leader of surrendering to American pressure over a proposed multi-national defence organisation in Asia and the Pacific. 'Father of the NHS': Who Was Aneurin Bevan? | History Hit For the next few years Bevan was the centre of controversy within the Labour Party and involuntarily gave his name to the partys radical wing. Contact, Facts are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. [125] Jennie Lee explained in a letter to Michael Foot that Bevan had specifically chosen to have a non-religious funeral and not a Christian service, because he was a firm humanist. Bevan had said "I would rather be kept alive in the efficient if cold altruism of a large hospital than expire in a gush of warm sympathy in a small one". The Aneurin Bevan, former Cross Inn, September 2018, This is a photo of the listed building number. Aneurin Bevan - Powered by, Weapons for squalid and trivial ends House of Commons, December 5 1956, NHS 70th Anniversary and 2018 Annual Lecture, The 2017 Aneurin Bevan Memorial Lecture Professor John Bew. Top 15 Things to do Around the Eiffel Tower, 10 Things to Do in Paris on Christmas Day (2022), 10 Things to Do in Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. [27] Mosley broke from the Labour Party in early 1931 to form the New Party, but Bevan refused to defect and instead announced that he had no intention of leaving the Labour Party. Aged 14, he left school to start working in the mines, starting at 5:30am each day and returning home late in the evening. In his political career, Bevan served as a minister of health in Clement Attlees Labor government of 1945, he was responsible for developing housing programs and for establishing the National Health Service. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Use the tabs aboveto learn about Nye Bevans life, work and ideas, as well as the history of the NHS. A poll in 2013 conducted on behalf of British Future found that the NHS was more popular then than at its creation, and was more popular than the monarchy, BBC and British Armed Forces. [64] The scheme was achieved having overcome political opposition from both the Conservative Party and from within his own party. Conway was a local miner who had been elected to the Bedwellty Board of Guardians and offered Bevan advice on overcoming his stammer, stating "if you can't say it, you don't know it". He had also seen disputes with some of Attlee's closest allies, Ernest Bevin and Herbert Morrison, who were appointed Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House respectively. After General Neil Ritchie's retreat across Cyrenaica early in 1942 and his disastrous defeat by General Erwin Rommel at Gazala, Bevan made one of his most memorable speeches in the Commons in support of a motion of censure against the Churchill government. Aneurin Bevan trainee doctors 'scared to come to work' - BBC News [36] He was a strong critic of Chamberlain, arguing that his old rival Winston Churchill should become prime minister. [38], By March 1938, Bevan was writing in Tribune that Churchill's warnings about German intentions for Czechoslovakia were "a diapason of majestic harmony" compared to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's "thin, listless trickle". Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [127], Bevan's most significant legacy is the National Health Service. On 5 July 1948, the government took over responsibility for all medical services and there was free diagnosis and treatment for all. photo by Elliott & Fry Wikimedia Commons. [18], In 1928, Bevan won a seat on Monmouthshire County Council in the Tredegar Central Division. Despite resistance from opposition parties and the British Medical Association, the National Health Service Act 1946 was passed and launched in 1948, nationalising more than 2,500 hospitals within the United Kingdom. [107] He instead stood again for the role of party treasurer and was duly elected, beating George Brown.[108]. They would collect money weekly for any member who needed it. Discover Walks contributors speak from all corners of the world - from Prague to Bangkok, Barcelona to Nairobi. [15] Apart from a six-week period as a labourer for Tredegar Council, he did not find work until 1924 and his employer, the Bedwellty Colliery, closed down ten months later. He is particularly noted for his tenure as Minister for Health in Clement Attlees government, in which he pioneered the creation of the British National Health Service. He joined the Labour Party and attended Central Labour College in London. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin. [99] For the next five years, he was the leader of the left wing of the Labour Party, who became known as Bevanites. The Daily Herald stated that some MPs were seen to be crying in Parliament and described how there was "sorrow at every street corner" in the South Wales Valleys. But the lowest paid a tax rate of 1%, up from 0.2% in 1938, the middle income brackets paid 14% to 26%, up from 10% to 18% in 1938, the higher earners paid 42%, up from 29%, and the top earners 77%, up from 58% in 1938. multi-national defence organisation in Asia and the Pacific, subsequent Anglo-French military response, Political history of the United Kingdom (1945present), "Aneurin Bevan, stormy petrel of the Labour left", "Dying father inspired Nye Bevan's NHS dream", "Britain's near-brush with Fascism: The politician who rooted for Hitler", "Play tells the inspiring story of political couple Aneurin Bevan and Jennie Lee", "How Jennie Lee helped Aneurin Bevan shape political change", "70 years of the NHS: How Aneurin Bevan created our beloved health service", "Let Us Face the Future: A Declaration of Labour Policy for the Consideration of the Nation", "NHS 70: Aneurin Bevan Day celebrations in Tredegar", "Housing owned by the people for the people Nye would have approved", "Bevan's speech to the Manchester Labour rally", "Major John Freeman: Soldier who became an MP, diplomat and broadcaster best known for his series of interviews, Face to Face", "In Place of Fear A Free Health Service 1952", "Mr. Bevan and Others Awarded 2,500 Each", "Did you know NHS founder Aneurin Bevan lived in Bucks? 12. He often quoted an 1855 passage from Karl Marx that was published in The New York Times in 1865: "The redeeming feature of war is that it puts a nation to the test. Here you can learn about the life and work of Aneurin (Nye) Bevan (1897-1960), founder of Britain's National Health Service and one of the Labour movement's greatest orators and thinkers.