Arthur Greenwood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the U.S. congressional representative from Indiana, see Arthur H. Greenwood.
Arthur Greenwood CH (8 February 1880 – 9 June 1954) was a prominent member of the Labour Party from the 1920s until the late 1940s. He rose to prominence within the party as secretary of its research department from 1920 and served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health in the short-lived Labour government of 1924.
Greenwood became deputy leader of the Labour Party under Clement Attlee, with Winston Churchill appointing him to the British War Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio in 1940. He was generally seen as ineffectual, but in May 1940 he emerged as Churchill's strongest and most vocal supporter in the lengthy War Cabinet debates on whether to accept or reject a peace offer from Germany. After that his position declined and he resigned in 1943. The same year, he was elected as Treasurer of the Labour Party, beating Herbert Morrison in a close contest.[1]
Until the end of World War II, Greenwood also performed the function of Leader of the Opposition, though he did not receive the salary.
During the Attlee government, he served successively as Lord Privy Seal and Paymaster-General.
Greenwood's son Anthony Greenwood (later Lord Greenwood) (1911–1982) was an MP from 1946 and a member of Harold Wilson's governments.
[edit] References
- ^ "Greenwood, Arthur", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
[edit] Offices held
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George Brown Hillman |
Member of Parliament for Wakefield 1932–1954 |
Succeeded by Arthur Creech Jones |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Neville Chamberlain |
Minister of Health 1929–1931 |
Succeeded by Neville Chamberlain |
| Preceded by Frederick Pethick-Lawrence |
Leader of the Opposition 1942–1945 |
Succeeded by Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by George Lathan |
Treasurer of the Labour Party 1943–1954 |
Succeeded by Hugh Gaitskell |
| Preceded by The Lord Beaverbrook |
Lord Privy Seal 1945–1947 |
Succeeded by The Lord Inman |
| Preceded by Vacant |
Paymaster-General 1946–1947 |
Succeeded by Hilary Marquand |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Clement Attlee |
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party 1935–1945 |
Succeeded by Herbert Morrison |
 |
This article about a Labour Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
