Arthur Greenwood

For the U.S. congressional representative from Indiana, seeArthur H. Greenwood.

The Right Honourable Arthur Greenwood CHMP
Greenwood in 1924
Paymaster General
In office 9 July 1946 – 5 March 1947
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Frederick Lindemann
Succeeded by	Hilary Marquand
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
In office 27 July 1945 – 17 April 1947
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Max Aitken
Succeeded by	Philip Inman
Minister without Portfolio
In office 17 April 1947 – 29 September 1947
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	A. V. Alexander
Succeeded by	Geoffrey FitzClarence
In office 11 May 1940 – 22 February 1942
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	Maurice Hankey
Succeeded by	William Jowitt
Leader of the Opposition
In office February 1942 – 23 May 1945
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	Frederick Pethick-Lawrence
Succeeded by	Clement Attlee
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
In office 26 November 1935 – 25 May 1945
Leader	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Clement Attlee
Succeeded by	Herbert Morrison
Minister of Health
In office 7 June 1929 – 24 August 1931
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	Neville Chamberlain
Succeeded by	Neville Chamberlain
Member of Parliament forWakefield
In office 21 April 1932 – 9 June 1954
Preceded by	George Brown Hillman
Succeeded by	Arthur Creech Jones
Member of Parliament forNelson and Colne
In office 15 November 1922 – 7 October 1931
Preceded by	Robinson Graham
Succeeded by	Linton Thorp
Personal details
Born	(1880-02-08)8 February 1880 Hunslet,Leeds, England
Died	9 June 1954(1954-06-09)(aged 74) London, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Catherine Ainsworth
Children	2, includingTony

Arthur GreenwoodCH(8 February 1880 – 9 June 1954) was a British politician. A prominent member of theLabour Partyfrom the 1920s until the late 1940s, Greenwood rose to prominence within the party as secretary of its research department from 1920 and served asParliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Healthin the short-livedLabour governmentof 1924. In 1940, he was instrumental in resolving that Britain would continue fightingNazi GermanyinWorld War II.

Early life

Greenwood was born inHunslet,Leeds,the son of a painter and decorator. He was educated at the Yorkshire College (which later became theUniversity of Leeds), where he took aBSc.

Political career

Greenwood was first elected to theHouse of Commonsat the1922 general electionfor the constituency ofNelson and ColneinLancashire.He held the seat until being defeated at the1931 election,but returned to Parliament the following year, winninga by-electionin theYorkshireconstituency ofWakefield.Greenwood continued to represent Wakefield until his death in 1954. Greenwood was an activefreemason,associated with theNew Welcome Lodge.

In 1929, Greenwood was appointedMinister of Health,remaining in the post until the collapse of the Labour government in August 1931; he was sworn into thePrivy Councilat the time of his appointment. During his period at the Ministry of Health, Greenwood raised widows' pensions and through theHousing Act 1930enacted large-scaleslum clearance.

Greenwood becameDeputy Leader of the Labour PartyunderClement Attlee.During the1935 General Election campaign,Greenwood attackedChancellor of the ExchequerNeville Chamberlainfor spending money on rearmament, saying that the rearmament policy was "the merest scaremongering; disgraceful in a statesman of Mr Chamberlain's responsible position, to suggest that more millions of money needed to be spent on armaments."

On 2 September 1939, acting for Attlee who was in hospital forprostatesurgery, he was called to respond toNeville Chamberlain's ambivalent speech on whether Britain would aid Poland. As he was about to speak, he was interrupted by an angry Conservative backbencher and formerFirst Lord of the Admiralty,Leo Amery,who electrified the chamber when he exclaimed loud and clear: "Speak for England, Arthur!"

A flustered Greenwood proceeded to denounce Chamberlain's remarks, to the applause of both sides of the House, in a short speech for which he is best remembered.

I am gravely disturbed. An act of aggression took place thirty-eight hours ago. The moment that act of aggression took place one of the most important treaties of modern times automatically came into operation... I wonder how long we are prepared to vacillate at a time when Britain, and all that Britain stands for, and human civilisation are in peril.

— Arthur Greenwood, House of Commons, 2 September 1939,

When the wartime coalition government was formed,Winston Churchillappointed him to theWar CabinetasMinister without Portfolioin 1940. He was generally seen as ineffectual, but in May 1940 he emerged as Churchill's strongest and most vocal supporter inthe lengthy War Cabinet debateson whether to accept or reject a peace offer from Germany.Without the vote in favour of fighting on by Greenwood and Clement Attlee, Churchill would not have had the slim majority he needed to do so.

After that, his influence declined, and he resigned in 1943. The same year, he was elected asTreasurer of the Labour Party,beatingHerbert Morrisonin a close contest.

From February 1942 until the end ofWorld War II,Greenwood also performed the function ofLeader of the Opposition,though he did not receive the salary.

During theAttlee government,he served successively asLord Privy SealandPaymaster General.

Death

Greenwood died on 14 June 1954 at the age of 74, being cremated atGolders Green Crematoriumon 14 June 1954. His ashes and memorial lie in Bay 17 of the East Boundary Wall.

Family

Greenwood's sonAnthony Greenwood(later Lord Greenwood, 1911–1982) was an MP from 1946 until 1970, first forHeywood and Radcliffeand later forRossendale,and a member ofHarold Wilson's governments.

References

Sources

• Dutton, D. (2001).Neville Chamberlain.Reputations (Arnold (Firm))). Arnold.ISBN978-0-340-70626-8.
• Jenkins, R. (2012).Churchill: A Biography.Pan Macmillan.ISBN978-0-330-47607-2.
• Hamill, John; Prescott, Andrew (1 April 2006)."'The Masons' Candidate': New Welcome Lodge No. 5139 and the Parliamentary Labour Party ".Labour History Review.71(1): 9–42.doi:10.1179/174581806X103862.
• Marr, A. (2009).A History of Modern Britain.Pan Macmillan.ISBN978-0-330-51329-6.
• Olson, L. (2008).Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England.Farrar, Straus and Giroux.ISBN978-0-374-53133-1.
• Roberts, A. (2018).Churchill: Walking with Destiny.Penguin Books Limited.ISBN978-0-241-20564-8.
• The Economist.Economist Newspaper Limited. 1943.

External links

• Works by Arthur GreenwoodatProject Gutenberg
• Works by or about Arthur GreenwoodatInternet Archive
• Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Arthur Greenwood
• Newspaper clippings about Arthur Greenwoodin the20th Century Press Archivesof theZBW
• Portraits of Arthur Greenwoodat theNational Portrait Gallery, London