Ernest Bevin

Who was Ernest Bevin?

Ernest Bevin was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour politician. He co-founded and served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1940, and as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government. He succeeded in maximizing the British labour supply for both the services and domestic industry, with a minimum of strikes and disruption. His most important role came as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government, 1945-51. He gained American financial support, withdrew from India and much of the Middle East, strongly opposed Communism, and aided in the creation of NATO.

According to his biographer, Alan Bullock, Bevin "stands as the last of the line of foreign secretaries in the tradition created by Castlereagh, Canning and Palmerston in the first half of the 19th century, with Salisbury, Grey and Austen Chamberlain as his predecessors in the 20th century, and with no successors."