George Lansbury
Under a cloud (with a silver lining). Comrade Lansbury. "Thanks to my faithful brolski not a drop has touched me." [Loud crows from "Daily Herald" bird.] Cartoon from Punch September 22, 1920; possibly reflecting an allegation of Soviet funding for the Independent Labour Party. Lansbury founded the Daily Herald.
Date of birth:	21 February 1859
Place of birth:	- Halesworth, Suffolk, England
Date of death:	May 07, 1940 (aged 81)
Place of death:	- Manor House Hospital, North London, England
Movement:	Member of Parliament for the Labour Party

George Lansbury (21 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician, socialist, Christian pacifist and newspaper editor. He was a Member of Parliament from 1910 to 1912 and from 1922 to 1940, and leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2030x2530, 624 KB) Under a cloud (with a silver lining). ... Punch was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002. ... Soviet redirects here. ... is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1859 (MDCCCLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Statistics Population: 4,637 (2001 Census) Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TM388773 Administration District: Waveney Shire county: Suffolk Region: East Anglia Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Suffolk Historic county: Suffolk Services Police force: Suffolk Constabulary Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: East of England Post office... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... North London is that part of London which is north of the River Thames. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament. ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in England, Scotland and Wales. ... is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1859 (MDCCCLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 127th day of the year (128th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of ideologies and movements which aim to improve society through collective and egalitarian action; and to a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. ... Peace churches are Christian churches, groups or communities advocating pacifism. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament. ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in England, Scotland and Wales. ...

Biography

Early life

Born in Halesworth, Suffolk, he became a campaigner for social justice and improved living and working conditions for the lower classes, especially in London's East End. Statistics Population: 4,637 (2001 Census) Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TM388773 Administration District: Waveney Shire county: Suffolk Region: East Anglia Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Suffolk Historic county: Suffolk Services Police force: Suffolk Constabulary Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: East of England Post office... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ... The East End of London, known locally as the East End, is an area, with no formal authority or boundaries, that spans a number of administative districts of London in England. ...

Political career

His earliest political involvement was with the Liberal Party, which he joined in 1886. He acted as electoral agent for Samuel Montagu in Whitechapel at the General Election of 1886, and for Jane Cobden, who stood for election to the London County Council as a Liberal candidate in 1889. That year Lansbury took up the issue of pressing for a legal eight-hour day, but after failing to secure the support of the National Liberal Federation at their 1889 conference he became increasingly dis-illusioned by the Liberals. He came into contact with the Social Democratic Federation and, in support of the famous 1889 Dock Strike, joined the National Union of Municipal and General Workers. Lansbury left the Liberal Party in 1892 and, with friends, formed the Bow and Bromley branch of the SDF. He became a prominent member of that organisation, standing twice as a parliamentary candidate for the SDF in the 1890s, before leaving to join the Independent Labour Party around 1903. In 1910, he became MP for Bow and Bromley, but two years later he clashed with Asquith in the House of Commons over the issue of women's suffrage and resigned his seat in order to stand in a by-election in support of the Suffragette movement. However, he was unsuccessful, and did not return to the House of Commons for ten years. Continuing to support the campaign for women's suffrage, Lansbury was charged with sedition in 1913 and jailed in Pentonville. In Parliament, he defended authors of a "Don't Shoot" leaflet addressed to soldiers called to deal with militant strikers. This article is about the historic Liberal Party. ... Samuel Montagu, 1st Baron Swaythling (1832‒1911) was an English Jewish banker, who founded the bank of Samuel Montagu & Co in 1853. ... Whitechapel is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, United Kingdom. ... London County Council emblem is still seen today on buildings, especially housing, from that era London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London from 1889 until 1965, when it was replaced by the Greater London Council. ... This article is about the British political party. ... The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a former political party in the United Kingdom. ... Bow and Bromley was a parliamentary constituency in the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar in London. ... Asquith was the name of two automobiles: Asquith (1901 automobile) Asquith (1981 automobile) There are also several notable people with the last name Asquith: Herbert Henry Asquith, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margot Asquith, the second wife of the Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, the Prime Ministers son... British House of Commons Canadian House of Commons The House of Commons is the elected lower house of the bicameral parliament in the United Kingdom and Canada. ... The term womens suffrage refers to an economic and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage — the right to vote — to women. ... Suffragette with banner, Washington DC, 1918 The title of suffragette (also occasionally spelled suffraget) was given to members of the womens suffrage movement in the United Kingdom. ... Sedition is a term of law to refer to covert conduct such as speech and organization that is deemed by the legal authority as tending toward insurrection against the established order. ... Pentonville is an area of London in the borough of Islington, around the Pentonville Road. ...

Lansbury helped found, in 1912, the Daily Herald, a socialist newspaper. He became editor just prior to World War I, and used the paper to oppose the war, publishing a headline "War Is Hell" upon outbreak of fighting. In 1922, the Herald became the Labour Party's official paper. The Daily Herald was a London newspaper. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

As Labour Mayor of Poplar, one of London's poorest boroughs, Lansbury led the Poplar Rates Rebellion in 1921, opposing not only the Government and the courts, but leaders of his own party. The borough council, instead of forwarding collected tax monies to London, dispersed part of the money as aid to the needy. Thirty councillors, including six women, were jailed by the High Court for six weeks. Council meetings during this time were held in Brixton Prison. Lansbury returned to Parliament at the 1922 general election, when he regained his old seat of Bromley and Bow. Poplar is an area of the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ... The Poplar Rates Rebellion, or Poplar Rates Revolt was a tax protest that took place in Poplar, London in 1921. ... Her Majestys High Court of Justice (usually known more simply as the High Court) is, together with the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales (which under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, is to be known as the... Brixton Prison is the oldest correctional facility operating in the United Kingdom and the first English prison to become an exclusive womens correctional facility. ... The UK general election of 1922 was held on 15th November 1922. ...

In 1929 Lansbury became First Commissioner of Works in the second Labour government under Ramsay MacDonald. In this capacity, he was associated with the construction of a large open air swimming pool in Hyde Park, popularly known as 'Lansbury's Lido'. Two years later the government fell, MacDonald left the Labour party to form the National Government and the party went to a massive defeat in the 1931 General Election. The party's leader Arthur Henderson and nearly every other leading Labour figure were defeated. Lansbury was the one exception and became Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party in 1931. The following year Henderson stood down from the leadership of the overall party and Lansbury succeeded him. The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings replaced the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests in 1851. ... James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866 – 9 November 1937) was a British politician and three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ... Hyde Park is the name of: Hyde Park, a Royal Park in London (the original location) Hyde Park in Sydney - a park some places in the United States of America: Hyde Park, Massachusetts Hyde Park, New York - a town in Dutchess County, New York Hyde Park, Vermont - a town Hyde... In the United Kingdom the term National Government is in an abstract sense used to refer to a coalition of some or all UK major political parties. ... The UK general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. ... The Right Honourable Arthur Henderson (September 13, 1863 – October 20, 1935) was a British politician and union leader. ...

The East Fulham by-election in June 1933 was dominated by the issue of rearmament against Nazi Germany. Lansbury as Labour Leader sent a message to the constituency: Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

I would close every recruiting station, disband the Army and disarm the Air Force. I would abolish the whole dreadful equipment of war and say to the world "do your worst".

The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ...

Personal life

High popularity

Lansbury was a pacifist and found himself increasingly at odds with the official foreign policy of the party he was leading. On several occasions he offered to resign the leadership but his parliamentary colleagues dissuaded him, not least because there was no clear alternative leader. However in late 1935 the disagreements became more severe and public. Many in the Labour Party, particularly the Trade Union wing led by Ernest Bevin, were pushing for the party to support sanctions against Italy for its aggression against Abyssinia. Lansbury fundamentally disagreed with this. In the weeks leading up to the Labour Party Conference Lansbury's position was weakened when both Lord Ponsonby, the Labour leader in the House of Lords, and the Labour frontbencher and National Executive member Stafford Cripps, widely seen as Lansbury's political heir, resigned from their positions because they too opposed sanctions and felt it would be impossible to lead a party when they were in disagreement with it on the major political issue of the day. Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 - 14 April 1951) was a British labour leader, politician, and statesman best known for his time as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour government. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Lord Arthur Augustus William Harry Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede (16 February 1871 - 23 March 1946) was a British politician, writer, and social activist. ... The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as the Lords. The Sovereign, the House of Commons (which is the lower house of Parliament and referred to as the Commons), and the Lords together comprise the Parliament. ... Sir Richard Stafford Cripps, known as Stafford Cripps, (April 24, 1889 - April 21, 1952) was a British Labour politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer for several years following World War II. // Cripps was born in London. ...

Many wondered how Lansbury's leadership could survive, even though he retained an immense personal popularity. At the Conference this was publicly displayed by delegates, but then during a debate on foreign policy Ernest Bevin launched a withering attack on Lansbury. Heavily defeated in the vote, Lansbury determined to resign as leader. At a meeting of Labour MPs called shortly afterwards there was a great reluctance to accept his resignation, partially out of continued support but also because many Labour MPs feared that the next leader would be Arthur Greenwood, widely seen as heavily aligned to trade unionists like Bevin. In a vote the MPs voted by 38:7 to not accept Lansbury's resignation, but he insisted on stepping down. When it came to selecting a successor (initially envisaged as a temporary position), Greenwood's name was not considered and the party instead unanimously elected Lansbury's deputy, Clement Attlee. Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 - 14 April 1951) was a British labour leader, politician, and statesman best known for his time as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour government. ... Arthur Greenwood (1880—1954) became deputy leader of the Labour Party under Clement Attlee, with Winston Churchill appointing him to the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio in 1940. ... Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1945 to 1951. ...

Lansbury was chair of the No More War Movement, and president of the War Resisters' International. He was a critic of British policy towards the Spanish Civil War and worked with Spanish pacifist José Brocca. The No More War Movement was a pacifist and socialist organisation in the United Kingdom. ... War Resisters International or WRI is an international anti-war organization with members and affiliates in over thirty countries. ... It has been suggested that Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War be merged into this article or section. ... Jose Brocca (Professor José Brocca Ramón) was a pacifist and humanitarian of the Spanish Civil War, who allied himself with the republicans but sought non-violent ways of resisting fascism. ...

His efforts to prevent World War II led him to visit most of the heads of state in Europe, including, controversially, both Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. He also visited U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Hitler redirects here. ... Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945) was the prime minister and dictator of Italy from 1922 until 1943, when he was overthrown. ... FDR redirects here. ...

He was an unusually popular politician, an elder statesman with a considerable following. He died of cancer at 81 in Manor House Hospital in London.

Heirs

George Lansbury was the father of Daisy Lansbury and Edgar Lansbury; father-in-law of Belfast-born actress Moyna MacGill (Lansbury) and the Hon. Raymond Postgate; grandfather of Angela Lansbury, Bruce Lansbury, Edgar Lansbury and Oliver Postgate. MacGill in 1964s My Fair Lady Moyna MacGill (October 10, 1895 Belfast, Ireland - November 25, 1975 Los Angeles, CA) was a stage and motion-pictures actress. ... Raymond William Postgate (November 6, 1896 - March 29, 1971) was an English socialist journalist and editor, social historian, mystery novelist and gourmet. ... Angela Lansbury CBE (born October 16, 1925) is a four-time Tony-winning, six-time Golden Globe-winning, three-time Oscar-nominated, and eighteen-time Emmy-nominated English actress, best-known for playing mystery writer Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote. ... Oliver Postgate (born 1925, Hendon, Middlesex, England) is a British animator, puppeteer and writer. ...

His name lives on in the Lansbury Estate and, of course, the Lido. The Lansbury Estate is a public housing estate in the Poplar area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets named after a famous Poplar politician, George Lansbury. ...

References

• George Lansbury: At the Heart of Old Labour, John Shepherd, Oxford University Press: 2002. ISBN 0-19-820164-8. paperback 2004 0199273642.