Herbert Morrison

The Lord Morrison of Lambeth
Morrison in 1947
Leader of the Opposition
In office
25 November 1955 – 14 December 1955
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterAnthony Eden
Preceded byClement Attlee
Succeeded byHugh Gaitskell
Foreign Secretary
In office
9 March 1951 – 26 October 1951
Prime MinisterClement Attlee
Preceded byErnest Bevin
Succeeded byAnthony Eden
Lord President of the Council
In office
26 July 1945 – 9 March 1951
Prime MinisterClement Attlee
Preceded byThe Lord Woolton
Succeeded byThe Viscount Addison
Leader of the House of Commons
In office
26 July 1945 – 16 March 1951
Prime MinisterClement Attlee
Preceded byAnthony Eden
Succeeded byJames Chuter Ede
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
In office
25 May 1945 – 2 February 1956
LeaderClement Attlee
Preceded byArthur Greenwood
Succeeded byJim Griffiths
Home Secretary
Minister of Home Security
In office
4 October 1940 – 23 May 1945
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byJohn Anderson
Succeeded byDonald Somervell
Minister of Supply
In office
12 May 1940 – 4 October 1940
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byLeslie Burgin
Succeeded byAndrew Rae Duncan
Leader of the London County Council
In office
9 March 1934 – 27 May 1940
Preceded byWilliam Ray
Succeeded byCharles Latham
Minister of Transport
In office
7 June 1929 – 24 August 1931
Prime MinisterRamsay MacDonald
Preceded byWilfrid Ashley
Succeeded byJohn Pybus
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords
Life peerage
2 November 1959 – 6 March 1965
Member of Parliament
for Lewisham South
Lewisham East (1945–1950)
In office
5 July 1945 – 18 September 1959
Preceded bySir Assheton Pownall
Succeeded byCarol Johnson
Member of Parliament
for Hackney South
In office
14 November 1935 – 15 June 1945
Preceded byMarjorie Graves
Succeeded byHerbert William Butler
In office
30 May 1929 – 7 October 1931
Preceded byGeorge Garro-Jones
Succeeded byMarjorie Graves
In office
6 December 1923 – 9 October 1924
Preceded byClifford Erskine-Bolst
Succeeded byGeorge Garro-Jones
Personal details
Born
Herbert Stanley Morrison

(1888-01-03)3 January 1888
London, England
Died6 March 1965(1965-03-06) (aged 77)
Sidcup, Kent, England
Political partyLabour
Spouses
Margaret Kent
(m. 1919; died 1953)
Edith Meadowcroft
(m. 1955)
Children1
RelativesPeter Mandelson (grandson)

Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, CH, PC (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the Cabinet as a member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minister of Transport during the Second MacDonald ministry, then after losing his parliamentary seat in the 1931 general election, he became Leader of the London County Council in the 1930s. After returning to the Commons, he was defeated by Clement Attlee in the 1935 Labour Party leadership election but later acted as Home Secretary in the wartime coalition.

Morrison organised Labour's victorious 1945 election campaign, and was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and acted as Attlee's deputy in the Attlee ministry of 1945–51. Attlee, Morrison, Ernest Bevin, Stafford Cripps, and initially Hugh Dalton formed the "Big Five" who dominated those governments. Morrison oversaw Labour's nationalisation programme, although he opposed Aneurin Bevan's proposals for a nationalised hospital service as part of the setting up of the National Health Service. Morrison developed his social views from his work in local politics and always emphasised the importance of public works to deal with unemployment. In the final year of Attlee's premiership, Morrison had an unhappy term as Foreign Secretary. He was hailed as "Lord Festival" for his successful leadership of the Festival of Britain, a critical and popular success in 1951 that attracted millions of visitors to fun-filled educational exhibits and events in London and across the country.

Morrison was widely expected to succeed Attlee as Labour leader but Attlee, who disliked him, postponed stepping down until 1955. Morrison, who was by then nearing 70 and considered too old, came a poor third in the 1955 Labour Party leadership election.[1]

  1. ^ Laybourn, Keith (2002). "Morrison, Herbert Stanley". In Ramsden, John (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century British Politics. Oxford University Press. pp. 443–444. ISBN 0198601344.