Manny Shinwell
Encyclopedia
Emanuel "Manny" Shinwell, Baron Shinwell CH
, PC (18 October 1884 – 8 May 1986), familiarly known as Manny, was a British trade union
official, Labour
politician
and one of the leading figures of Red Clydeside
.
, London, but moved with his Polish
–Jewish family to Glasgow
, Scotland
. His father had a small clothing shop and his mother was a cook. He educated himself in a public library
and at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery
. He enjoyed sport, particularly boxing, and he was the trainer of a local football team. He began his working life as a machinist in a clothing workshop. In 1903 he became active in the Amalgamated Union of Clothing Operatives, and joined the Glasgow Trades Council
in 1906 as a delegate of that union.
In May 1911, he was seconded to help organise the seamen of Glasgow at the request of J. Havelock Wilson of the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union
(NSFU). He played a prominent role in the six-week Glasgow seamen's strike
which began on 14 June and which was part of a nationwide strike. He subsequently became the secretary of the Glasgow branch of the NSFU. In August 1912, he participated in a revolt against the union, which resulted in the Glasgow branch becoming part of the Southampton
-based British Seafarers' Union
(BSU). He was the local secretary of the BSU until it became part of the Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union
(AMWU) in 1922, after which he served as National Organiser of the new organisation. In 1919, he gained national notoriety through his involvement in the Glasgow 40 Hours' Movement
. This movement culminated in clashes between police and protesters in Glasgow's George Square
. He was afterwards tried for incitement to riot and was sentenced to five months' imprisonment.
An Independent Labour Party
(ILP) member, he was elected as Member of Parliament
(MP) for Linlithgowshire
at the 1922 general election
. He lost his seat in 1924
, but was re-elected for Linlithgowshire at a by-election
in 1928. In 1929 Ramsay MacDonald
appointed him Financial Secretary to the War Office
: Cowling says that MacDonald believed he had rescued Shinwell's ministerial career when no minister would take him. From 1930 Shinwell served as Secretary for Mines
, an office he had previously held in 1924. He became a critic of Ramsay MacDonald
's National Government, and in 1931 he again lost his seat. He returned to the Commons in 1935 for Seaham
, County Durham
, after defeating MacDonald, whereafter he campaigned vigorously, along with left-wingers such as Aneurin Bevan
, for Britain to support the Popular Front
government in Spain against Franco
in the Spanish Civil War
. On 4 April 1938, during a heated House of Commons debate in which he had been criticising the government's foreign policy
, he slapped the face of the Conservative
MP Commander Robert Tatton Bower
after Bower told him to "go back to Poland". Shinwell had taken this to be an anti-semitic remark. In May 1940 he refused a position in Winston Churchill
's Coalition Government
in the Ministry of Food. He became chairman of the Labour Party in 1942.
He served in Clement Attlee
's government after the Labour victory in 1945
. As Minister of Fuel and Power, he presided over the nationalisation of the mining industry. His decision to mine the grounds of Wentworth Woodhouse
, home of the former mine owners, the Earls Fitzwilliam, was severely criticised, including by the miners themselves (who threatened to strike in an attempt to prevent it), and was perceived as an act of class warfare
. The Fitzwilliam family for decades, unlike most mine owners, had made the Wentworth Estate a welcoming retreat for all miners, making them welcome to roam the estate and allowing the miners to approach Wentworth Woodhouse and knock on the door for help at anytime. Locals in Wentworth to this day say Shinwell mined the grounds not because he needed to, but because he could.
In 1947, Britain experienced, in an exceptonally severe winter, a serious coal shortage. He was widely criticised for his failure to avert this crisis. Shortly afterwards he took up the position of Secretary of State for War
which he held until 1950. His seat became Easington
in 1950, at which point he became Minister of Defence. Towards the end of his Commons career, he served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party
, 1964-67. Shinwell was awarded the Order of the Companions of Honour
in 1965 and made a life peer as Baron Shinwell, of Easington in the County of Durham, in 1970. He continued to be active in the House of Lords
until shortly before his death. Shinwell died in May 1986, aged 101, holding the record for the second longest-lived British MP (after Theodore Cooke Taylor
) until overtaken by Bert Hazell
in November 2008. He became the longest lived peer
on 26 March 1986, dying little over a month later on 8 May.
Shinwell sat for sculptor Alan Thornhill
for a portrait in clay. The correspondence file relating to the Shinwell portrait bust is held as part of the Thornhill Papers (2006:56) in the archive of the Henry Moore Foundation
's Henry Moore Institute in Leeds
and the terracotta remains in the collection of the artist. A bronze (accession number S.309) was purchased into the Collection of Glasgow City Art Gallery in 1973.
Order of the Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
, PC (18 October 1884 – 8 May 1986), familiarly known as Manny, was a 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...
official, Labour
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
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and one of the leading figures of Red Clydeside
Red Clydeside
Red Clydeside is a term used to describe the era of political radicalism that characterised the city of Glasgow in Scotland, and urban areas around the city on the banks of the River Clyde such as Clydebank, Greenock and Paisley...
.
Early life, career and trade union activities
Shinwell was born in SpitalfieldsSpitalfields
Spitalfields is a former parish in the borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London, near to Liverpool Street station and Brick Lane. The area straddles Commercial Street and is home to many markets, including the historic Old Spitalfields Market, founded in the 17th century, Sunday...
, London, but moved with his Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
–Jewish family to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. His father had a small clothing shop and his mother was a cook. He educated himself in a public library
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
and at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. The building houses one of Europe's great civic art collections...
. He enjoyed sport, particularly boxing, and he was the trainer of a local football team. He began his working life as a machinist in a clothing workshop. In 1903 he became active in the Amalgamated Union of Clothing Operatives, and joined the Glasgow Trades Council
Labour council
A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of labour unions or union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, region, or provincial or state level...
in 1906 as a delegate of that union.
In May 1911, he was seconded to help organise the seamen of Glasgow at the request of J. Havelock Wilson of the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union
National Union of Seamen
The National Union of Seamen was the principal trade union of merchant seafarers in the United Kingdom from the late 1880s to 1990. In 1990, the union amalgamated with the National Union of Railwaymen to form the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers .- The National Amalgamated...
(NSFU). He played a prominent role in the six-week Glasgow seamen's strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
which began on 14 June and which was part of a nationwide strike. He subsequently became the secretary of the Glasgow branch of the NSFU. In August 1912, he participated in a revolt against the union, which resulted in the Glasgow branch becoming part of the Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
-based British Seafarers' Union
British Seafarers' Union
The British Seafarers' Union was a trade union which organised sailors and firemen in the British ports of Southampton and Glasgow between 1911/1912 and 1922...
(BSU). He was the local secretary of the BSU until it became part of the Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union
Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union
The Amalgamated Marine Workers' Union was a trade union of sailors, firemen and ship-board service personnel which existed in the United Kingdom between 1922 and 1926....
(AMWU) in 1922, after which he served as National Organiser of the new organisation. In 1919, he gained national notoriety through his involvement in the Glasgow 40 Hours' Movement
Red Clydeside
Red Clydeside is a term used to describe the era of political radicalism that characterised the city of Glasgow in Scotland, and urban areas around the city on the banks of the River Clyde such as Clydebank, Greenock and Paisley...
. This movement culminated in clashes between police and protesters in Glasgow's George Square
George Square
George Square is the principal civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is named after King George III.-Historical development:George Square was laid out in 1781, part of the innovative Georgian central grid plan that initially spanned from Stockwell Street east to Buchanan Street—which...
. He was afterwards tried for incitement to riot and was sentenced to five months' imprisonment.
Political career
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
(ILP) member, he was elected as 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 Linlithgowshire
Linlithgowshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Linlithgowshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1708 to 1945. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post voting system....
at the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
. He lost his seat in 1924
United Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...
, but was re-elected for Linlithgowshire at a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in 1928. In 1929 Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
appointed him Financial Secretary to the War Office
Financial Secretary to the War Office
Financial Secretary to the War Office was an office of the British government, the financial secretary of the War Office department.The post was combined with that of Under-Secretary of State for War from 17 April 1947....
: Cowling says that MacDonald believed he had rescued Shinwell's ministerial career when no minister would take him. From 1930 Shinwell served as Secretary for Mines
Secretary for Mines
The position of Secretary for Mines is a now defunct office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade. Responsibility for mines now lies with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry....
, an office he had previously held in 1924. He became a critic of Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
's National Government, and in 1931 he again lost his seat. He returned to the Commons in 1935 for Seaham
Seaham (UK Parliament constituency)
Seaham was a parliamentary constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was in existence between 1918 and 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, after defeating MacDonald, whereafter he campaigned vigorously, along with left-wingers such as Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
, for Britain to support the Popular Front
Popular Front (Spain)
The Popular Front in Spain's Second Republic was an electoral coalition and pact signed in January 1936 by various left-wing political organisations, instigated by Manuel Azaña for the purpose of contesting that year's election....
government in Spain against Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. On 4 April 1938, during a heated House of Commons debate in which he had been criticising the government's foreign policy
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
, he slapped the face of the 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...
MP Commander Robert Tatton Bower
Robert Tatton Bower
Lieutenant-Commander Robert Tatton Bower was a Royal Navy officer and a Conservative Party politician in England.At the 1931 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament for Cleveland...
after Bower told him to "go back to Poland". Shinwell had taken this to be an anti-semitic remark. In May 1940 he refused a position in 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...
's Coalition Government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
in the Ministry of Food. He became chairman of the Labour Party in 1942.
He served in 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...
's government after the Labour victory in 1945
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...
. As Minister of Fuel and Power, he presided over the nationalisation of the mining industry. His decision to mine the grounds of Wentworth Woodhouse
Wentworth Woodhouse
Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house near the village of Wentworth, in the vicinity of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. "One of the great Whig political palaces", its East Front, long, is the longest country house façade in Europe. The house includes 365 rooms and covers an...
, home of the former mine owners, the Earls Fitzwilliam, was severely criticised, including by the miners themselves (who threatened to strike in an attempt to prevent it), and was perceived as an act of class warfare
Class conflict
Class conflict is the tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests between people of different classes....
. The Fitzwilliam family for decades, unlike most mine owners, had made the Wentworth Estate a welcoming retreat for all miners, making them welcome to roam the estate and allowing the miners to approach Wentworth Woodhouse and knock on the door for help at anytime. Locals in Wentworth to this day say Shinwell mined the grounds not because he needed to, but because he could.
In 1947, Britain experienced, in an exceptonally severe winter, a serious coal shortage. He was widely criticised for his failure to avert this crisis. Shortly afterwards he took up the position of Secretary of State for War
Secretary of State for War
The position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first held by Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
which he held until 1950. His seat became Easington
Easington (UK Parliament constituency)
Easington is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
in 1950, at which point he became Minister of Defence. Towards the end of his Commons career, he served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party
Parliamentary Labour Party
In UK politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party is the parliamentary party of the Labour Party in Parliament: Labour MPs as a collective body....
, 1964-67. Shinwell was awarded the Order of the Companions of Honour
Order of the Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
in 1965 and made a life peer as Baron Shinwell, of Easington in the County of Durham, in 1970. He continued to be active in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
until shortly before his death. Shinwell died in May 1986, aged 101, holding the record for the second longest-lived British MP (after Theodore Cooke Taylor
Theodore Cooke Taylor
Theodore Cooke Taylor was a British businessman and Liberal politician. He was best known for pioneering profit-sharing in his business activities and for leading a movement against the opium trade...
) until overtaken by Bert Hazell
Bert Hazell
Bertie Hazell, CBE , also known as Bert Hazell, was a British Labour Party politician and trade union activist....
in November 2008. He became the longest lived peer
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
on 26 March 1986, dying little over a month later on 8 May.
Shinwell sat for sculptor Alan Thornhill
Alan Thornhill
Alan Thornhill is a British artist and sculptor whose long association with clay developed from pottery into sculpture. His evolved methods of working enabled the dispensing of the sculptural armature to allow improvisation, whilst his portraiture challenges notions of normality through rigorous...
for a portrait in clay. The correspondence file relating to the Shinwell portrait bust is held as part of the Thornhill Papers (2006:56) in the archive of the Henry Moore Foundation
Henry Moore Foundation
The Henry Moore Foundation is a registered charity in England, established for education and promotion of the fine arts — in particular, to advance understanding of the works of Henry Moore. The charity was set up with a gift from the artist in 1977...
's Henry Moore Institute in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
and the terracotta remains in the collection of the artist. A bronze (accession number S.309) was purchased into the Collection of Glasgow City Art Gallery in 1973.