George Brown, Baron George-Brown
PC | |
---|---|
Foreign Secretary | |
In office 11 August 1966 – 15 March 1968 | |
Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
Preceded by | Michael Stewart |
Succeeded by | Michael Stewart |
First Secretary of State | |
In office 16 October 1964 – 11 August 1966 | |
Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
Preceded by | Rab Butler (1963)[a] |
Succeeded by | Michael Stewart |
Secretary of State for Economic Affairs | |
In office 16 October 1964 – 11 August 1966 | |
Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
Preceded by | Office created |
Succeeded by | Michael Stewart |
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party | |
In office 15 July 1960 – 19 June 1970 | |
Leader |
|
Preceded by | Lord Temporal |
In office 10 November 1970 – 2 June 1985 Life peerage | |
Personal details | |
Born | George Alfred Brown 2 September 1914 Lambeth, London, England |
Died | 2 June 1985 Truro, Cornwall, England | (aged 70)
Political party | |
Spouse |
Sophie Levene
(m. 1937; sep. 1982) |
Children | 2 |
a. ^ Office vacant from 18 October 1963 to 16 October 1964. | |
George Alfred George-Brown, Baron George-Brown,
After leaving school at the age of 15, Brown began work as a clerk, before joining the
Three years later, following the sudden death of Hugh Gaitskell, Brown became Acting Leader of the Labour Party, and consequently was briefly Leader of the Opposition. He stood in the election to gain the role permanently, but was beaten by Harold Wilson; one factor in his defeat was concern from colleagues about the impact of his well-known alcoholism, an affliction that remained with him through his life.[3] Following Labour's victory at the 1964 election, Wilson appointed Brown as First Secretary of State, making him the next-most senior member of the Cabinet, and appointed him to the new position of Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to curtail the power of HM Treasury.
Two months after Labour's landslide victory at the snap
Early life
Brown was the eldest of four children born to George Brown and Rosina Harriett (née Mason),
Brown attended Gray Street Elementary School in
The school wanted Brown to stay on beyond the age of 15, but he decided to leave to earn his living and help his parents financially. He started work as a junior clerk in the ledger department of a City firm, but was made redundant after pressing his fellow clerks to join a trade union. From 1932, he worked as a fur salesman for the John Lewis Partnership, dropping his Cockney accent to appeal to society customers. Brown earned a great deal on commission. During this time, Brown continued his education through London County Council evening schools[12] and the Workers' Educational Association. The poverty of his upbringing led Brown in later life to resent those who had a more privileged background and a university education.[3][1]
Trade union organiser
Shortly after his marriage on 27 April 1937 to Sophie Levene,
After the outbreak of the
Early political career
Member of Parliament
As a TGWU official, Brown was an attractive candidate to Labour constituencies seeking a candidate, as the TGWU would sponsor him and pay election expenses. He was selected for Belper, a mixed constituency near Derby which was one of Labour's principal target seats. In the 1945 general election, Brown gained the seat from the Conservatives with a majority of 8,881. He was invited as one of a dozen 'Young Victors' to a private dinner given by Hugh Dalton on 30 July 1945 who was talent-spotting and networking. Brown was immediately chosen to be a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) by George Isaacs, who had followed the promoted Bevin as Minister of Labour, but his time with Isaacs was brief.
Brown was both adept at understanding political issues and how to communicate them, and convivial and generally popular within the Parliamentary Labour Party (save among the left-wing faction, whom he attacked as 'long-haired intellectuals'). He briefly worked as PPS for Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Dalton from April 1947, at a time when the economic situation of Britain had barely improved and the Chancellor needed the maximum political support. Brown launched an unsuccessful plot to have Clement Attlee replaced as Prime Minister by Ernest Bevin, although without consulting Bevin who did not approve.[15]
Ministerial office
Attlee, despite knowing all about Brown's plot to depose him, swiftly appointed Brown as Joint
Opposition
Election of 1951
Brown ceased to be a minister when Labour lost the
Brown was a partisan participant in the Labour Party's internecine struggles in the early 1950s, opposing the
Deputy leadership
When Bevan died in July 1960, the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party became vacant at a time when the Labour Party was severely divided over
Gaitskell's sudden death in January 1963 made Brown's challenge for the party leadership inevitable. However, he mishandled the opening of his campaign. At the first Shadow Cabinet meeting after Gaitskell's death, Brown and his leadership rival Harold Wilson agreed to a clean fight. Wilson, who was accused by the right of undermining party unity, then informed the press that each agreed to serve under the other, which countered his reputation for plotting; Brown repudiated any such agreement, laying himself open to that accusation.
Personal problems
Many on the right of the Labour Party, including Anthony Crosland and Denis Healey, supported James Callaghan for the leadership. They were opposed to Wilson's being elected leader, but they had good reason not to trust Brown. Partly this was because of private knowledge of his excessive drinking, which exacerbated his rude and aggressive style of politics and originated the Private Eye euphemism for intoxication, "tired and emotional". Crosland called the leadership election "A choice between a crook (Wilson) and a drunk (Brown)."[citation needed] Many Labour MPs who were prepared to accept Brown as deputy leader were unhappy with the idea of his being in charge, and Wilson was easily elected. His colleague Roy Jenkins says that he was:
- unenthusiastically but firmly for Brown....Brown was certainly not a tepid character. He had great qualities both of intellect and personality, although they were balanced by appalling faults. He drank too much, particularly for his not very strong head....And he confounded the trouble by being also capable of violent switches of mood, even when sober. On the big issues, he was almost invariably right and pursued his conviction with persistent courage.[17]
The mainstream press had not publicised his drinking, but it later became apparent when Brown was invited on Associated-Rediffusion television to pay tribute to John F. Kennedy after his assassination (Brown was probably the closest Labour politician to Kennedy). Brown had come from a dinner in Shoreditch where he had already drunk a great deal, and drank more while preparing to go on air – having a row with actor Eli Wallach which became physical. When Brown went on air, millions of viewers saw him interpret a fair question as an accusation of his having overstated his closeness, then give a morose and slurred tribute from which it was apparent he was intoxicated. Brown had to issue a public apology.[18]
Brown bitterly resented his leadership defeat, which came only weeks after he had defeated Wilson for the deputy leadership. He disappeared for five days after the result was declared, using an assumed name to book a flight to Glasgow; the newspapers were full of stories about the vanishing politician. When he returned he demanded of Wilson that he be appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary, which Wilson refused.
He retained the deputy leadership and despite his personal differences, played an important part in advising Wilson about Labour's campaign strategy in the
Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
Department of Economic Affairs
Labour won the election with a small parliamentary majority in 1964. As previously arranged with Wilson, Brown was appointed to the newly created
Immediately on taking office Brown was told that the budget deficit for the coming year was forecast at £800 million, double what the Labour Party had predicted as the worst possible figure before the election. The leading economic ministers were presented with three options, including devaluation of the pound sterling, to meet the crisis. They decided on a temporary surcharge on imported goods. However, over the next few months Brown was persuaded by his deputy Anthony Crosland that ruling out devaluation had been a mistake. The pound continued to be under pressure in 1965 and Brown struggled over a 12-hour meeting at the Trades Union Congress to persuade the unions to accept a tougher prices and incomes policy, to which he was personally opposed.
The most important function of the DEA was to prepare a 'National Plan' for the economy.[20] Brown became personally identified with the project, which helped increase enthusiasm for it among officials and the Labour Party, while also interesting the press. After nearly a year's work the Plan was unveiled on 16 September 1965, pledging to cover "all aspects of the country's development for the next five years". The Plan called for a 25% growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 1964 to 1970, which worked out at 3.8% annually. There were 39 specific actions listed, although many were criticised as vague.[21]
July measures
Following the 1966 general election at which Labour won re-election with a parliamentary majority of 96, the government was hit by a severe financial crisis. The question of devaluation was raised again in a more pressing way, with Brown now strongly supporting it, but Harold Wilson was firmly opposed, preferring a set of deflationary measures including spending cuts and interest rate rises. Brown believed that these measures would damage the economy. Chancellor of the Exchequer James Callaghan found himself in the middle, as he opposed devaluation but felt that without prompt action it was inevitable. Wilson tried to keep Brown on board, even offering to make him Chancellor should Callaghan resign, but Brown stood firm. When the Cabinet voted by 17–6 against devaluation, Brown sent a letter of resignation.[22]
Wilson craftily sent the letter back to Brown so that he could deny having received it, and then sent George Wigg to try to talk Brown out of it. This did not prevent the news reaching the public; Wigg then changed his position and told Brown that Wilson would accept his resignation. Bizarrely this convinced Brown to stay and he accepted all of Wilson's terms for staying in the government in a late night meeting before announcing his "un-resignation" to the press in Downing Street.
Foreign Secretary
Move to Foreign Office
Brown was reshuffled to become Foreign Secretary in August 1966, a job he coveted. He was considered by some of his Cabinet colleagues not to have 'precisely the right temperament for the Foreign Office'.[23][24] This decision had implications for the government's stance on the European Economic Community as Brown had always favoured entry. Wilson had been sceptical, but not opposed outright, to joining but Brown persuaded him and the rest of the Labour Party to support an application. In May 1967 it was announced that Britain had made its second application to join. Like the first, it was vetoed by Charles de Gaulle.[3][25]
Brown's drinking became more pronounced as he became depressed by his loss of face in July 1966.[26] His reaction to his depression was to launch vituperative attacks, for example at the son of newspaper proprietor Cecil King in October 1967. In 1968, he publicly insulted the wife of the British ambassador to France, Sir Patrick Reilly, at a dinner party at the French embassy in London, and later ended the ambassador's career over personal differences.[27][28] After Wilson was told of the incident with King, Brown came round and told Wilson that he had just had a terrible row with his wife and could not continue in Government. More and more people were becoming aware of Brown's alcoholism, and Private Eye magazine managed to hint at the scandal with a parody of a memo titled "Brown: F.O. Acts".[29] The memo gave translations into various languages for the words tired, overwrought, expansive, overworked, colourful and emotional, and coined the phrase "tired and emotional" as a euphemism for 'drunk'. A number of anecdotes recounting stories of his drunkenness circulated. The most well known was that, while drunk attending a formal function in Peru, he supposedly asked the Archbishop of Lima to dance with him, mistaking the Archbishop for a woman and not realising that the Peruvian national anthem was being played.[30] The story is likely to be untrue as Brown did not visit South America during his term.[31][32][33]
Brown, indeed, once boasted that "Many members of parliament drink and womanise – now, I've never womanised"; which was almost certainly true. There was never a whisper about his sex-life during his career.[26]
Resignation
Despite devaluation in November 1967, the pound came again under severe pressure in March 1968. When Wilson wanted to declare an emergency bank holiday to give breathing space, he attempted to contact his Foreign Secretary. Brown could not be found and his staff reported his condition as "only 'so-so' when last seen", and so Wilson convened a special meeting of the Privy Council without him. Brown was incensed that Wilson had not tried further to contact him, and got together with other ministers who had not been informed to face down Wilson at a meeting in the early hours of the morning. Brown, who appeared very drunk, incoherently shouted at Wilson, who was almost as angry and stood up for himself. At the end of the meeting Brown stormed out.
It was unclear whether he had resigned but Brown did nothing the next day to apologise. At six o'clock that evening he sent a letter which said "I think it better that we should part company" but did not mention "resignation". Wilson decided to reply by accepting Brown's resignation but also sent a message saying that Brown had half an hour to say whether the letter had been misinterpreted. Brown did not act on this and so left the government, but not in the blaze of glory for which he had hoped.
In Cabinet papers released in 1999 it was clear that Wilson was in turmoil over Brown's resignation in 1968: seventeen drafts of his reply were written before finally accepting his resignation.[34]
Defeat
Brown's constituency of Belper had undergone considerable development since he had been elected. Most of the new housing was for middle class areas near
In Brown's speech shortly after the result, he said that he would "lend" his constituency to the Conservatives.
Later life
Life peerage
Brown swiftly decided not to try to regain his seat and received a
On 2 March 1976, George-Brown announced that he was leaving the Labour Party in protest at government legislation which strengthened the
George-Brown was invited to deliver the 1978 Marlow (Scotland) Lecture to the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. He chose the subject "Britain's future: the significance of the European dimension".
George-Brown became the president of the
In 1978, George-Brown hired a young Canadian woman, Kathy Mason, as his personal secretary, and she worked for him until the spring of 1980. At that time, before returning to Canada, Mason trained the newly hired Maggie Haimes, then aged 31, to fill her position. Two years later, on 24 December 1982, after 45 years of marriage, Brown walked out on his wife and set up home with Haimes. He did not, however, change his 1969 will which gave his estate to Lady George-Brown.
Death
As his health deteriorated, George-Brown, an
References
- ^ ISBN 9780198614128. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b "No. 45229". The London Gazette. 10 November 1970. p. 12333.
- ^ a b c Francis Wheen "BOOK REVIEW / Statesman who bottled out: 'Tired and Emotional: The Life of Lord George Brown' – Peter Paterson" Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, The Independent on Sunday, 9 May 1993
- ^ Lane, A. Thomas (ed.) Biographical Dictionary of European Labour Leaders, vol. 2, Greenwood Press, 1995, p. 151
- ^ Paterson, Peter. Tired and Emotional: The Life of Lord George-Brown, Chatto & Windus, 1993, p. 11
- ^ Paterson, Peter. Tired and Emotional: The Life of Lord George-Brown, Chatto & Windus, 1993, p. 12
- ^ SEATO Record, Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation, 1966, p. 22
- ^ Current Biography Yearbook 1963, H. W. Wilson Co., 1964, p. 67
- ^ Connor, William N. George Brown: A Profile and Pictorial Biography, Pergamon Press, 1964, p. 14
- ^ Brief Lives, Paul Johnson, Arrow Books, 2011, p. 46
- ^ ""West Square" Central School - AOL Search Results". search.aol.co.uk.
- ^ "About us". City Lit. Archived from the original on 26 June 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
- Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 2023 (online ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Lane, A. Thomas (ed.) Biographical Dictionary of European Labour Leaders, vol. 2, Greenwood Press, 1995, p. 152
- ^ George Brown : Biography Archived 26 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "George Brown". Pinkindustry.wordpress.com. 6 February 1991. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ Roy Jenkins, A Life at the Center (1991) p. 142
- ^ "The strange case of Eli Wallach, George Brown and the death of JFK". Chris Hallam's World View. 20 November 2013. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ "Cabinet Papers Series 3, Part 5". www.ampltd.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Mining Review 19/3: The Plan (1965)". www.screenonline.org.uk. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014.
- ^ "The National Plan | Labour's National Plan for economic development launched in August 1965 by George Brown, Department for Economic Affairs (PREM 13/274)". www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013.
- ^ The moral of the Department of Economic Affairs – Samuel Brittan: Remarks at Treasury Seminar 22/10/07 Archived 16 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Lord George-Brown In My Way (London: 1971)
- ^ Wilson, Harold The Labour Government: 1964–70 (London: 1971)
- ^ BBC ON THIS DAY | 27 November 1967: De Gaulle says 'non' to Britain again Archived 2 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "More opt ics than politics: EPolitix.com". Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
- ^ Kenneth James. "Sir Patrick Reilly". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/73087. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "Private Eye Covers Library". www.private-eye.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014.
- ^ Ben Macintyre "From squiffy to blotto, a lexicon of lushes", Archived 8 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine The Times, 7 January 2006
- ^ Paxman, Jeremy. "Book Review / Intrigue, infighting and cold sausage rolls: Jeremy Paxman on George Brown, whose career was a triumph of chippiness – 'Tired and Emotional: The Life of Lord George Brown' – Peter Paterson: Chatto & Windus, 20 pounds". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
- ISBN 9780552775465. Archivedfrom the original on 30 April 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
- ISBN 9781451684513. Archivedfrom the original on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
- ^ "BBC NEWS | Special Report | 1999 | 01/99 | 1968 Secret History | On the verge of economic catastrophe". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 May 2004.
- ^ HRS 2077 Lord George Brown Labour MP in Radcliffe 1970 | Heritage Photo Archive & Heritage Image Register | Radcliffe, People Archived 3 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Janus: The Papers of Lord Francis-William Archived 3 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "No. 45217". The London Gazette. 22 October 1970. p. 11623.
- ^ "LORD GEORGE-BROWN IS DEAD AT 70; CANDID BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY". 4 June 1985. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ "The Westminster Hour: Not while I'm alive, he ain't – Part 2". BBC News. 5 April 2002. Archived from the original on 27 July 2004. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
- ^ "New Straits Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
- ^ "An Honest Man's Warning", The Times, 4 March 1976, p. 15
- ^ Paul Keel, "Labour Party dissidents gather to forge national alliance," The Guardian, 31 January 1981.
Bibliography
- The National Plan (Cmnd. 2764). Department of Economic Affairs (HMSO, London, 1965)
- In my way: The political memoirs of Lord George-Brown by Lord George-Brown (Victor Gollancz, London, 1971)
- The Private Eye Story by Patrick Marnham (André Deutsch Ltd, London, 1982)
- Harold Wilson by Ben Pimlott (HarperCollins, London, 1992)
- Tired and Emotional: The life of George Brown by Peter Paterson (Chatto and Windus, London 1993)
- Dictionary of Labour Biography edited by Greg Rosen (Politico's Publishing, London, 2001)
External links
Media related to George Brown (politician born 1914) at Wikimedia Commons