Ernest Bevin was a British statesman, trade union leader and Labour Party politician. He cofounded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1940 and served as Minister of Labour and National Service in the wartime coalition government. He succeeded in maximising the British labour supply for both the armed services and domestic industrial production with a minimum of strikes and disruption.
Bevin in 1942
Bevin in 1920
Sketch of Bevin commissioned by the Ministry of Information during the Second World War
Ernest Bevin standing to the right of Winston Churchill who waves to crowds on Whitehall on VE Day, 8 May 1945, after broadcasting to the nation that the war against Germany had been won.
The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists, and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all general elections since 1922, Labour has been either the governing party or the Official Opposition. There have been six Labour prime ministers and thirteen Labour ministries. Since the 2010 general election, it has been the second-largest UK political party by the number of votes cast, behind the Conservative Party and ahead of the Liberal Democrats. The party holds the annual Labour Party Conference.
Keir Hardie, one of the Labour Party's founders and its first leader
Labour Party plaque from Caroone House, 14 Farringdon Street
Keir Hardie a founder of the Labour Party, speaking to trade unionist workers at Trafalgar Square, 1908
Political poster for the Labour Party during the December 1910 election