But seven decades after it was founded, a 2013 opinion poll conducted on behalf of British Future found that the NHS was more popular than at its creation, and more popular than the monarchy, the BBC, and the British Armed Forces. David Bevan was born in Tredegar but his family had originally hailed from Carmarthenshire, and he followed his own father into the mines, starting work at 5:30am each day and returning home late in the evening. Labour Party deputy leader Herbert Morrison complained that Bevan's attack had backfired, for his words "did much more to make the Tories work and vote than Conservative Central Office could have done". Confrontation with the British Medical Association (BMA) was led by Charles Hill, who published a letter in the British Medical Journal describing Bevan as "a complete and uncontrolled dictator". [34] Bevan was readmitted to the party on 20 December 1939,[35] after agreeing "to refrain from conducting or taking part in campaigns in opposition to the declared policy of the Party".[36][37]. [42], In August 1939 came the MolotovRibbentrop Pact, a non-aggression pact between the Nazi and Soviet governments that shocked democratic governments around the world. There is a man in the British Army who flung 150,000 men across the Ebro in Spain, Michael Dunbar. [26] In January 1931, Bevan wrote a letter to the government on behalf of the Mosley group, raising concerns over its "failure to deal with unemployment". 70 years of the NHS: How Aneurin Bevan created our beloved health [72], Substantial bombing damage, with over 700,000 homes needing repair in London alone,[74] and the continued existence of pre-war slums in many parts of the country made the task of housing reform particularly challenging for Bevan. Find out more about how the BBC is covering the. His work in the mines paid off as he gained sponsorship from the South Wales Miners Federation to study at Central Labour College in 1919. The manager of the colliery found an excuse to have him dismissed; however, with the support of the Miners Federation, Bevans case was judged to be one of victimisation and the company was forced to re-employ him. "[55] At the beginning of the 1945 general election campaign, Bevan told his audience that his goal was to eliminate any opposition to the Labour programme: "We have been the dreamers, we have been the sufferers, now we are the builders. Born in a modest family, Bevan's exposure to poverty and deprivation gave him a first-hand experience of unfortunate condition of . [11] Bevan remained at the college until 1921, attending at a time when a number of his contemporaries from South Wales, including Jim Griffiths, were also students at the college. Bevan followed his advice, often practising his speeches to his friends to perfect his speech and wording, and remarked that Conway's words were the "best advice I ever had". [129], A bronze statue was commissioned by South Glamorgan County Council and erected in 1987 in the city centre of Cardiff. [41] The Military Training Act 1939 reintroduced conscription six months later, and Bevan joined the rest of the Labour Party in opposing it, calling it "the complete abandonment of any hope of a successful struggle against the weight of wealth in Great Britain". [57][58] These reforms were achieved in the face of great financial difficulty following the war. It was during this period that he became convinced by the ideas of socialism. 2. [7], Bevan became a well-known local orator and was seen by his employers, the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company, as a troublemaker. Contact, Facts are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. [18], In 1928, Bevan won a seat on Monmouthshire County Council in the Tredegar Central Division. Bevan was the sort of principled politician we seem to lack these days. Image Credit: http://www.cradleofnhs.org.uk/nye.htm / Wikimedia Commons. If nations more powerful than ourselves accept the absence of principle, the anarchistic attitude of Eden and launch bombs on London, what answer have we got, what complaint have we got? We can't allow OUR NHS, built on the working class medical society model to fall to corporate greed. The manager of the colliery found an excuse to get him dismissed. He was elected head of his Miners' Lodge when aged 19, where he frequently railed against management. [44] Churchill was a frequent target of Bevan's, who already held a dislike of him following his intervention in the Tonypandy riots and the 1926 United Kingdom general strike which Bevan considered heavy handed. [96] In the opening page of the book, Bevan begins: "A young miner in a South Wales colliery, my concern was with the one practical question: Where does power lie in this particular state of Great Britain, and how can it be attained by the workers? At an early age of only 19 years, he became a trade union activist and headed the local miners lodge after joining the Tredegar branch of the South Wales Miner Federation. photo by Elliott & Fry Wikimedia Commons. [68], Conservative opposition of the National Health Service scheme feared that the sudden access to free health care would be overrun. Photo by Howard Coster - Wikimedia Commons, Portrait of Aneurin Bevan. Aneurin Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who took up the portfolio of Health and Housing during Clement Attlee's government from 1945 to 1951. In the speeches section, we will be building an archive of Bevans greatest oratory including archive recordings. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. [90] Bevan received unanimous support for his actions from his local Labour constituency leaders. In 1928, Bevan won a seat on Monmouthshire County Council in the Tredegar Central Division. Bevan Festival - Home - Facebook He was the son of coal miner David Bevan and Phoebe (ne Prothero), a seamstress. There he earned around ten shillings per week with most going to his parents to help support the family. [70][71] The aim was to create new homes and communities with a place for all sections of society: We should try to introduce in our modern villages and towns what was always the lovely feature of English and Welsh villages, where the doctor, the grocer, the butcher and the farm labourer all lived in the same street. [45] Bevan also feared that allowing Churchill to continue unopposed and unchallenged in Parliament during the war would leave him almost unbeatable for the Labour Party in future elections. Photo by Spudgun67 Wikimedia Commons. Bevan was critical of the leadership of the British Army, which he felt was class bound and inflexible. Here you can learn about the life and work of Aneurin (Nye) Bevan (1897-1960), founder of Britain's National Health Service and one of the Labour movement's greatest orators and thinkers. Bevan left school at 13 and began working in a local colliery. Aneurin Bevan was born on 15 November 1897 at 32 Charles Street in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, a working-class mining town, where an estimated 90 per cent of the town's inhabitants relied on the local mines for employment. [59] Bevan had clashed frequently with Attlee during his time as an MP, believing that the Labour leader failed to apply enough pressure on the Tory government during the war. [102] In July of the same year, Bevan announced his intention to stand for election as the Treasurer of the Labour Party against Hugh Gaitskell. . The pair went to work at Whitworth Colliery, but fell foul of management when Bevan refused to use cheaper second-hand timber as he deemed it unsafe. With his posture in parliament, he gained great support from his constituents. Aneurin Bevan with his eye on the Ball. [12] Churchill would later label Bevan "a squalid nuisance". As minister of health in Attlee's postwar government from 1945-51, he spearheaded the creation of the National Health Service in 1948. [43] Bevan was relieved that the country had united against Nazi Germany in the fight against fascism to provide a common enemy away from the working class. One of ten children (though four died in infancy and one at eight years old), Bevans father was a coal miner and Baptist, while his mother a seamstress and follower of Methodism. [107] He instead stood again for the role of party treasurer and was duly elected, beating George Brown.[108]. "[49], Dunbar had been recommended for a commission, but rejected it himself to remain with his unit. Bevan's past association with Mosley would be used against him in subsequent years by his political rivals. He published the bookIn Place of Fear in 1952, which became the most read socialist book at the time. As exposure to the atmosphere reduces all mummies to instant dissolution, so war passes supreme judgment upon social systems that have outlived their vitality. Bevan gained more than twice the votes of Liberal candidate William Griffiths, receiving 20,000 votes to Griffiths' 8,000. Aneurin is second from right on the back row and his brother Billy is second right on front row. [69][70] The removal of the criteria of "working class" from local authority housing provision was seen as a first step, widening access to the council housing that was becoming an ever larger part of the UK housing stock and which made up a majority of new homes built after the war. 12. He was the architect of the National Health Service and leader of the left-wing (Bevanite) group of the Labour Party. The NHS is a massive employer. Aneurin Bevan and the setting up of the NHS The National Health Service. They have offended against every principle of decency and there is only one way in which they can even begin to restore their tarnished reputation and that is to get out! His dad was a miner and the poor working class family in which Bevan grew up gave him first-hand experience of the problems of . A member of the Tredegar branch of the South Wales Miners Federation, Bevan was the head of his local Miners Lodge at just 19 years of age. These numbers were reached by lowering the quality standards originally put forward by Bevan, with council houses featuring gardens being largely dropped in favour of tower blocks and flats. Bevanism was a movement on the left wing of the Labour Party in the late 1950s led by Aneurin Bevan which also included Richard Crossman, Michael Foot and Barbara Castle. Bevan was a supporter of the Liberal Party as a child, but later converted to socialism and joined the Independent Labour Party. In 1957, Bevan, Richard Crossman and the Labour Party's General Secretary Morgan Phillips sued The Spectator magazine for libel, after one of its writers described them as drinking heavily during an Italian Socialist Party conference. Get out! His nomination received a severe blow on the same day it was announced, when two unions that traditionally sided with the left, the National Union of Mineworkers and the Amalgamated Engineering Union, pledged their support for his opponent. Thus, the responsibility for instituting a new and comprehensive National Health Service, as well as tackling the country's severe post-war housing shortage, was given to Bevan, the youngest member of Attlee's Cabinet in his first ministerial position at the age of 47. To achieve mastery as a speaker, he had first to overcome a speech impediment. Get time period newsletters, special offers and weekly programme release emails. He read Marxism at the college and was a brief follower of Noah Ablett,[11][12] developing his left-wing political outlook. "Oratory in Political Life,", This page was last edited on 14 April 2023, at 03:25. Aneurin Bevan was born on 15 November 1897 in Tredegar in Wales. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Aneurin's name is pronounced 'uh-ny-rin'. However, Attlee commented that Bevan was "starting with me with a clean sheet" following his appointment. His National Health Service policy met great disapproval from the British Medical Association. A blue plaque was erected in 2015 by English Heritage at 23 Cliveden Place, Chelsea, London SW1W 8HD, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. He grew up steeped in the traditions of Welsh miners radicalism; self-help organizations, trade unionism, religious dissent, and socialism. [133] The following year, Bevan was voted number one in the 100 Welsh Heroes poll, a response to find the public's favourite Welsh people of all time. "[81] The comment inspired the creation of the Vermin Club by angry Conservatives, who attacked Bevan for years for the metaphor. [92], Bevan's last decade saw his political position weaken year by year as he failed to find a winning issue that would make use of his skills. Aneurin Bevan was born on 15th November 1897 in Tredegar, Monmouthshire (now in Blaenau Gwent). Aneurin Bevan Facts: Aneurin Bevan was a Welsh Labour politician widely considered the architect of the National Health Service. Aneurin Bevan | Founder of the National Health Service Whether you want to learn the history of a city, or you simply need a recommendation for your next meal, Discover Walks Team offers an ever-growing travel encyclopaedia. [91], Later the same year, the Labour Party were defeated at the general election. He criticised figures such as Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George for their attitude towards workers rights, and as a result of his strong stance enjoyed consistent support from his constituency, and was one of few Labour MPs to be unopposed in the 1931 General Election. Photo by Lesbardd Wikimedia Commons. [4] Aneurin Bevan attended Sirhowy Elementary School, where he achieved little. [132] In 2002, Bevan was voted as the 45th greatest Briton of all time by the BBC public opinion poll, 100 Greatest Britons. Nonetheless, for the next few years, Bevan was at the centre of controversy within the party earning the nickname Nye the Rhetorician and ultimately gave his name to the partys more left-leaning radical wing, which included campaigning for nuclear disarmament. It was one of a long row of four-roomed miners' cottages. After General Neil Ritchie's retreat across Cyrenaica early in 1942 and his disastrous defeat by General Erwin Rommel at Gazala, Bevan made one of his most memorable speeches in the Commons in support of a motion of censure against the Churchill government. [31] In 1936 he joined the board of the new socialist newspaper Tribune. Aneurin Bevan was born on 15 November 1897 at 32 Charles Street in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, a working-class mining town, where an estimated 90 per cent of the town's inhabitants relied on the local mines for employment. He was born to David Bevan a coal miner and Phoebe nee Prothero a seamstress as one of their ten children. There was an outpouring of national mourning that followed his death, while the Daily Herald reported that some MPs were seen to be crying in Parliament. He believed that a civilized society should be able to provide medical care for all of its citizens for free so that anyone in need of medical care, no matter what they earn, can have access to it. Aneurin Bevan, was born at 32 Charles Street, Tredegar, on 15th November 1897. He first became an MP for Ebbw Vale in 1929. [60] He earned a rebuke from Attlee, but Bevan contended that his Welsh mining constituency did not send him to Parliament to "dress up", and he declined to wear formal attire at further Buckingham Palace functions. [1], Both Bevan's parents were Nonconformists: his father was a Baptist and his mother a Methodist, although he became an atheist. With less motivation for studies, he left school at age 13 to work at a local Ty- Trist Colliery. Bevan's maternal grandfather John was a blacksmith who had moved to Tredegar from Hay-on-Wye to work in the Bedwellty mines. [86] However, three months after his appointment, Hugh Gaitskell introduced a proposal of prescription charges for dental care and spectaclescreated to save a potential 25m to meet the financial demands imposed by the Korean War. He knelt reverently in respect to a friend or friend's faith, but he never pretended to be anything other than what he was, a humanist. They criticised the right-wing "Gaitskellites" high defence expenditure (especially for nuclear weapons), called for better relations with the Soviet Union, and opposed the party leader, Clement Attlee, on most issues. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Bevan was actually against British membership of the Common Market. He became minister of labour in January 1951 but resigned from the government the following April in protest against the rearmament program, which necessitated sharp cutbacks in social expenditures. Academically poor, young Bevan repeated a year of studies. History Hit brings you the stories that shaped the world through our award winning podcast network and an online history channel. [112] Speaking at the 1957 Labour Party conference, he decried unilateral nuclear disarmament, saying "It would send a British Foreign Secretary naked into the conference-chamber". Prime Minister Attlee rejected Bevan in favour of Herbert Morrison because he distrusted Bevan's personality. [100] In April 1954, Bevan resigned from the Parliamentary Labour Party, having been rebuked by Attlee after accusing the Labour leader of surrendering to American pressure over a proposed multi-national defence organisation in Asia and the Pacific. Bevan also failed in a bid to become deputy leader, losing out to Jim Griffiths. Aneurin's name is pronounced 'uh-ny-rin'. His opposition to the Labour leadership's approach was partly based on his view that the leadership of the Labour Party was not demanding assurances from the Government on its foreign policy as a price for the party's support for re-armament as expressed in his speech to the Bournemouth Conference of that year: we should say to the country we are prepared to make whatever sacrifices are necessary, to give whatever arms are necessary to fight Fascist powers and in order to consolidate world peace[39]. [130] The Nye Bevan Estate in Clapton Park, Hackney, London, was named after Bevan, and was opened in October 1962 by his friend and biographer Michael Foot. Along with this, the Medical Practices Committee was to oversee the distribution of GP practices a proposal which the previous Coalition Minister had withdrawn after opposition from the British Medical Association. Photo by University of Liverpool Faculty of Health & Life Sciences from Liverpool, United Kingdom Wikimedia Commons. When Bevan was made a minister in 1945, he envisaged the social housing sector as a housing service similar to the National Health Service, ensuring that everyone had access to decent and affordable homes, with people still having the option to live in owner occupation or the private sector if they so chose (with grants made available to owner-occupiers and private landlords to bring dwellings up to decent standards). Raised in Monmouthshire by a Welsh working-class family, he was the son of a coal miner and left school at 14. Photo by Duncan from Leicestershire, UK Wikimedia Commons. This was after he had won a seat on the Monmouthshire County Council in 1928. He began attending fortnightly meetings of the local Plebs' League where he studied, among other things, Marxism. Bevan's reputation as a hard-line socialist typically preceded him: Sir William Douglas, who served as Bevan's deputy in the Ministry of Health, had initially stated that he would "never work with a man like that". Macmillan noted that despite being a "controversial figure" during his career, Bevan's death had seen an outpouring of genuine "admiration and affection". He wanted the war to be not just a fight against fascism but a war for socialism. Bevan, however, became an atheist. Bevan had been a supporter of the Liberal Party in his youth, but was converted to socialism by the writings of Robert Blatchford in The Clarion and joined the Independent Labour Party. You can also find out more about the Bevan Society, our activities and programme of lectures. Despite resistance from opposition parties and the British Medical Association, the National Health Service Act 1946 was passed and launched in 1948, nationalising more than 2,500 hospitals within the United Kingdom. The statue of Aneurin Bevan (1897-1960) by the late Robert Thomas on Queen Street Cardiff. [82] It was later claimed that his words had cost Labour more than two million votes. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [14], Upon returning home in 1921, he found that the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company refused to re-employ him. ", "The NHS: even more cherished than the monarchy and the army", "Aneurin Bevan / 100 Welsh Heroes / 100 Arwyr Cymru", "Hospital named after Aneurin Bevan opens in Ebbw Vale", contributions in Parliament by Aneurin Bevan, Aneurin Bevan and the foundation of the NHS: Socialist Health Association website. With his activism and exuberance, his employer Tredegar Iron Company saw him as a troublesome person but he amazingly became a popular local speaker. You cannot collaborate, you cannot accept the logic of collaboration on a first class issue like rearmament, and at the same time evade the implications of collaboration all along the line when the occasion demands it.[38]. [15] Apart from a six-week period as a labourer for Tredegar Council, he did not find work until 1924 and his employer, the Bedwellty Colliery, closed down ten months later. [102], In March 1955, when Britain was preparing for Operation Grapple, the testing of its first hydrogen bomb, Bevan led a revolt of 57 Labour MPs and abstained on a key vote. [88][89] Two other ministers, John Freeman and Harold Wilson, resigned at the same time. Lee became a considerable influence upon Bevans career. I. Lesser-known, perhaps, is Bevans own personal background. He is particularly noted for his tenure as Minister for Health in Clement Attlee's government, in which he pioneered the creation of the British National Health Service. When Winston Churchill said that the Labour Party should refrain from giving Adolf Hitler the impression that Britain was divided, Bevan rejected this as sinister: The fear of Hitler is to be used to frighten the workers of Britain into silence. He had then joined the board of the socialist newspaper, the Tribune in 1936. An estimated 125,000 nurses and 5,000 consultants were available to care for hospital patients. [1] The town was situated in the South Wales Valleys and was on the northern edge of the South Wales coalfield. As a result of this success, he was picked as the Labour Party candidate for Ebbw Vale, then easily held the seat in the 1929 General Election, receiving more than twice the number of votes as the Liberal candidate. [Nye] was never a hypocrite. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. A statue of Aneurin Bevan in Cardiff. However, the. Despite his conflict with Attlee, Bevan was instrumental in developing a program that oversaw the building of 850,000 new homes between 1945 and 1950, which were good quality houses, owned by local councils and rented out to people at affordable prices. After the landslide Labour victory in the 1945 general election, Bevan was appointed minister of health, responsible for establishing the National Health Service. Aneurin Bevan was born on November 15, 1897, in Tredegar in Wales. Bevan died from stomach cancer in 1960 at the age of 62. His father was a miner and the poor working class family in which Bevan grew up gave him first-hand experience of the problems of poverty and disease. An infuriated Bevan stated that he would never be a member of a government that imposed charges on the National Health Service. Bevan first worked as a miner during his teens where he became involved in local miner's union politics. After an overwhelming victory for the Labour Party in the 1945 General Election,Aneurin Bevanwas appointed Minister for Health also responsible for housing by Prime Minister Clement Attlee. [62] This system proved so popular that 20,000 people supported the organisation during the 1930s. Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a Welsh politician born on November 15, 1897. Two of the key elements of Bevan's proposals were this nationalisation of the hospital services and the abolition of the sale and purchase of goodwill by general practitioners. Dr James Calvert, medical director for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, said it was important to remember the report was made during the pandemic, "which has significantly disrupted the . Aneurin's mother was also from Tredegar, but had English roots: her grandfather was from Hereford. Are we prepared to accept for ourselves the logic we are applying to Egypt? Aneurin Bevan. For local insights and insiders travel tips that you wont find anywhere else, search any keywords in the top right-hand toolbar on this page. The Tredegar Query Club by friends including Aneurin Bevan and Walter Conway. Photo by Jeremy Segrott from Cardiff, Wales, UK - Wikimedia Commons Read more. [36] He was a strong critic of Chamberlain, arguing that his old rival Winston Churchill should become prime minister. Although he was defeated, he gained attention from his peers and he won a scholarship to the Central Labour College in London, sponsored by the South Wales Miners' Federation. Nye Bevan Speech (1946) - YouTube Aneurin Bevan Facts: Aneurin Bevan was a Welsh Labour politician widely considered the architect of the National Health Service. A powerful speaker, debater and champion of the working class, Bevan was voted number one in the 100 Welsh Heroes poll, a response to find the publics favourite Welsh people of all time. "[83], Bevan was instead appointed Minister of Labour in January 1951 in place of George Isaacs. [32][33] Bevan and another expelled MP, George Strauss, appealed against the decision. [106] Bevan's remark that "I know the right kind of political Leader for the Labour Party is a kind of desiccated calculating machine" was assumed to refer to Gaitskell, although Bevan denied it (commenting upon Gaitskell's record as Chancellor of the Exchequer as having "proved" this). Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan (1897-1960) was the Labour MP for Ebbw Vale in south Wales from 1929-60. 9 Necessary Facts about the NHS - Fact City He lost the seat in 1931, but regained it in 1932 before deciding against seeking re-election in 1934. [80], At a party rally in 1948, during a speech, Bevan stated: "That is why no amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party that inflicted those bitter experiences on me. The former aimed to provide a uniform standard of consultant led care and expertise throughout the country and to replace the patchwork of voluntary and municipal hospitals which existed at that point. What does Aneurin Bevan's legacy mean today? - Cardiff University His father died by pneumoconiosis (a lung condition caused by long term inhalation of coal dust) but no compensation was paid to him, as it was not classed as an industrial disease under the Workman's Compensation Act. Some historians have questioned how influential the college was on his political development. Plaque, Aneurin Bevan memorial stones, Tredegar. KS2 All About Aneurin Bevan PowerPoint (Teacher-Made) Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC (/narn bvn/; Welsh:[an.rn]; 15 November 1897 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government in which he spearheaded the creation of the British National Health Service. full audio of Bevan's speech at the 4 November 1956 Trafalgar Square rally against British action in Suez. To achieve mastery as a speaker, he had first to overcome a speech impediment. The facts, figures and quotes that shaped the history of the National Health Service . Bevan foresaw that it would always be the subject of public debate, warning that "This service must always be changing, growing and improving; it must always appear to be inadequate." We enter this campaign at this general election, not merely to get rid of the Tory majority.