Arthur Creech Jones
Arthur Creech Jones | |
---|---|
Secretary of State for the Colonies | |
In office 4 October 1946 – 28 February 1950 | |
Preceded by | George Hall |
Succeeded by | Jim Griffiths |
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies | |
In office 1945–1946 | |
Preceded by | The Duke of Devonshire |
Succeeded by | Ivor Thomas |
Member of Parliament for Shipley | |
In office 14 November 1935 – 23 February 1950 | |
Preceded by | James Lockwood |
Succeeded by | Geoffrey Hirst |
Member of Parliament for Wakefield | |
In office 21 October 1954 – 15 October 1964 | |
Preceded by | Arthur Greenwood |
Succeeded by | Walter Harrison |
Personal details | |
Born | 15 May 1891 |
Died | 23 October 1964 | (aged 73)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Labour |
Profession | Civil servant |
Arthur Creech Jones (15 May 1891 – 23 October 1964) was a British trade union official and politician. Originally a civil servant, his imprisonment as a conscientious objector during the First World War forced him to change careers. He was elected to Parliament in 1935 and developed a reputation for interest in colonial matters, gaining the nickname "unofficial member of the Kikuyu at Westminster". He served in the Colonial Office in the Labour government of 1945–1950. After losing his seat in the 1950 general election he was involved in writing and lecturing about British colonies, before returning to Parliament in 1954. Initially, he was known as Arthur Jones, but throughout his time in politics he invariably used his middle name.
Early life
Creech Jones was the son of a lithographic printer from
In his spare time, Jones was also involved with political groups; he was an active member of the Liberal Christian League, which brought him into contact with senior members of the Liberal Party. His education about politics led him to question, and eventually drop, his membership of the Methodist church. He helped to found the Camberwell Trades and Labour Council in 1913, and later became honorary Secretary of the Dulwich branch of the Independent Labour Party (ILP). After the outbreak of the First World War, Jones was involved across London with the ILP; he had become a pacifist, and organised anti-conscription meetings when conscription was introduced in 1916.
Imprisonment
He was called up that autumn, but refused to participate in any way. As a result, Jones was not granted an exemption from military service and was sent to prison from September 1916, and was not released until April 1919. He used his imprisonment as an opportunity to read further on history, politics and economics; he also made useful contacts in prison with figures who would later become senior in the Labour Party.
Trade unionist
On leaving prison, Creech Jones was unable to resume a civil service career; instead he did research on prisons for the
As part of his work for the TGWU, he visited the
Travelling
At the 1929 general election, he fought the constituency of Heywood and Radcliffe as Labour Party candidate. He left his position at the TGWU after he was elected organising secretary of the Workers' Travel Association (WTA), which funded foreign trips for people employed in industry.[2] He spent a large part of the next decade travelling, writing up his trips in Travel Log, the journal of the WTA. Having visited most European countries, including Nazi Germany, he directed a rescue of hundreds of Jews from Czechoslovakia through the WTA after the Munich Agreement was signed.
After the formation of the
Member of Parliament
Creech Jones specialised in Colonial affairs in Parliament, especially those in Africa. In June 1936 he pressed the Government, which were encouraging colonies to set up memorials to
In 1939 Creech Jones promoted his
When Ernest Bevin was appointed Minister of Labour in 1940, he chose Creech Jones as his Parliamentary Private Secretary. He used his influence in the Government to improve conditions for conscientious objectors. As Chairman of the Labour Party's advisory committee on imperial issues, Creech Jones did much to formulate party policy on the colonies prior to the 1945 general election. He was vice-chairman of the Commission on Higher Education for West Africa which was set up in 1943,[6] visiting the West African colonies to compile a well-received report.[7]
Attlee government
After the Labour Party won the 1945 election, Creech Jones was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Colonial Office, with The Times wondering why he was not given a more senior post.[8] He was a delegate to the first sitting of the United Nations General Assembly in London in 1946. Creech Jones' support for eventual self-government of the colonies by all their inhabitants was unpopular with those colonies which were run by British settlers, and he had to moderate his speeches when he visited colonies such as Kenya.[9] He also dealt with the British mandate in Palestine in its final years.
Colonial Secretary
In October 1946, the
In September 1947, Creech Jones chaired the British West Indies conference at Montego Bay discussing closer association and possible federation of the British colonies in the area.[12] The conference produced a preliminary agreement on federation and dominion status. He was later forced to recall Oliver Baldwin as Governor of the Leeward Islands, who had made outspoken comments which local opinion had taken badly.[13]
In Africa, Creech Jones presided over a conference at
Defeat
At the 1950 general election, Creech Jones' constituency of Shipley was subjected to boundary changes, and he was vigorously challenged by the Conservatives. He ended up losing his seat by a narrow 81 votes to Geoffrey Hirst, being one of the most prominent Ministerial casualties of the election. Out of Parliament he spent more time with the Fabian Colonial Bureau for whom he chaired conferences and lectured. He edited volumes of the Fabian Colonial Essays.
He also tried to get back into Parliament. When Sir Stafford Cripps resigned his seat at Bristol South East in the autumn of 1950, Creech Jones was the favourite to succeed him, given his status and his family connections to the city.[15] However, he lost the selection to Anthony Wedgwood Benn. At the 1951 general election Creech Jones stood in Romford, but was unable to regain the constituency for Labour.
In the early 1950s, Creech Jones succeeded in reconciling
Wakefield MP
Creech Jones' opportunity to return to Parliament came in 1954 when
Despite being aged nearly 70, Creech Jones was reappointed to the opposition front bench after the 1959 general election.[17] In 1961 he signed a letter expressing disquiet at a British application to join the European Communities, and urging a Commonwealth conference to discuss the implications before formally applying.[18] He left the front bench in 1963; although hoping to continue in Parliament, he was forced by ill health to announce his retirement in August 1964.[19]
Death
Creech-Jones died just eight days after the 1964 general election, at which he was succeeded by Labour's Walter Harrison. Creech-Jones was 73 when he died in Lambeth Hospital on 23 October 1964 of Thrombosis.[20]
Footnotes
- ^ Post Office London Directory. 1923. p. 1081.
- ^ "Workers' Travel Association", The Times, 29 December 1930.
- ^ "The Split in the I.L.P.", The Times, 29 August 1932.
- ^ "Parliament", The Times, 18 June 1936.
- ^ "Public Access To Mountains", The Times, 27 February 1939.
- ^ "Future of the Colonies", The Times, 14 July 1943.
- ^ See, e.g., "Planning Colonial Progress" (Leader), The Times, 10 June 1944.
- ^ "Completing the Team" (leader), The Times, 6 August 1945.
- ^ "Assurance To Kenya Settlers", The Times, 26 July 1946.
- ^ "Statement in House of Commons", The Times, 29 January 1947.
- ^ "British Statement To U.N. On Palestine", The Times, 27 September 1947.
- ^ "B.W.I. Conference", The Times, 12 September 1947.
- ^ "Earl Baldwin of Bewdley", The Times, 12 August 1958.
- ^ "Independence Bill For Ceylon", The Times, 15 November 1947.
- ^ Michael Cocks, "Labour and the Benn Factor" (Macdonald, 1989), p. 12.
- ^ "Queen Elizabeth House", The Times, 23 March 1955.
- ^ "Mr. Gaitskell Chooses Labour's Men of the Future", The Times, 13 November 1959.
- ^ "Majority Lean Towards Participation", The Times, 13 June 1961.
- ^ "Mr. Creech Jones Not to seek Re-election", The Times, 18 August 1964.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
Sources
- "Arthur Creech Jones" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- "Who Was Who", A & C Black
- M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press), 1981