Ernest Bevin

Not much is known about Ernest Bevin’s personal life except the fact that he was married and had a daughter.

He died on April 14, 1951.

In 2006, some declassified intelligence files revealed that the Jewish terrorist groups plotted to assassinate Ernest Bevin in 1946

Ernest Bevin was born on March 9, 1881 in Somerset, England. His mother’s name was Diana Bevin and there is no account of his father. After the passing away of his mother in 1889, he endured a poverty-stricken childhood.

He attended school only for a brief period and dropped out in 1892.

In 1892 Ernest Bevin worked as a labourer and then as a mineral-water lorry driver in Bristol. He became involved with the Dockers’ Union and was introduced to politics by the Bristol Socialist Society.

From 1910 to 1921 he was the secretary of the Dockers’ Union and from 1914 also adorned the position of a national organizer. He played a very important role in the formation of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) in 1922.

He was soon elected as TGWU’s general secretary, which made him the one of the leading labour leaders in the country and their strong advocate within the Labour Party.

He contested as a Labour Party representative in the general elections of 1918 and 1931, from the constituencies of Bristol Central and Gateshead respectively and lost both times.

During the 1930s he advocated British rearmament and a strong foreign policy and opposed fascism. His accusatory speech targeted at George Lansbury in 1935 led to Lansbury’s resignation and the appointment of Clement Attlee as the Party’s leader.

Ernest Bevin is credited for co-founding the Transport and General Workers Union and then presiding as the founder General Secretary from 1922 to 1940.

As foreign secretary in Clement Atlee’s government, he played a key role in shaping British foreign policy in the post World War II era. He was instrumental in creation of NATO and in establishing Britain as a staunch ally of the USA in the Cold War era.