In 1928, Bevan won a seat on Monmouthshire County Council in the Tredegar Central Division. In 1928, Bevan won a seat on Monmouthshire County Council and was elected as the MP for Ebbw Vale the following year. [107] He instead stood again for the role of party treasurer and was duly elected, beating George Brown.[108]. His contribution to the Welfare State has been immense. "[83], Bevan was instead appointed Minister of Labour in January 1951 in place of George Isaacs. [64] The scheme was achieved having overcome political opposition from both the Conservative Party and from within his own party. Aneurin Bevan Worksheets & Facts | Life, Political Career, Legacy [63] Having been a member of the Cottage Hospital Management Committee around 1928 and serving as chairman in 192930, Bevan had received an insight into the management of health services by local authorities, which proved to be a bedrock of his work in founding the National Health Service.[48]. [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. "Oratory in Political Life,", This page was last edited on 14 April 2023, at 03:25. In February 1925, his father died of pneumoconiosis, an illness caused by the inhalation of coal dust. Plaque, Aneurin Bevan memorial stones, Tredegar. There he earned around ten shillings per week with most going to his parents to help support the family. 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. 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." [27] Mosley broke from the Labour Party in early 1931 to form the New Party, but Bevan refused to defect and instead announced that he had no intention of leaving the Labour Party. In 1955, he stood as one of the candidates for party leader but was defeated by Hugh Gaitskell. Welsh Greats - Aneurin Bevan - YouTube [134][135] Numerous institutions bear Bevan's name, including the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, and Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan, a hospital located within his old Ebbw Vale constituency. [7], Bevan became a well-known local orator and was seen by his employers, the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company, as a troublemaker. Bevan countered that the initial overspending was down to years of underinvestment in the British medical system prior to the Second World War: by the start of the 1950s, the early overspending had come to an end.[65]. 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. Excerpts from Bevan's speeches are included in Greg Rosen's book Old Labour to New: the dreams that inspired, the battles that divided (published by Methuen in 2005 (ISBN978-1-84275-045-2)). He went on to serve as shadow foreign secretary from 1956-59 and deputy leader of the Labour party from 1959-60. Attlee and Labour were ousted from power in a snap election held six months after Bevan's resignation, but Attlee continued on as Labour Party Leader. Aneurin Bevan and the setting up of the NHS - BBC Bitesize [9][20] In keeping with his background, Bevan described his initial thoughts on the House of Commons as a shrine to "the most conservative of all religions ancestor worship". He was the son of coal miner David Bevan and Phoebe (ne Prothero), a seamstress. [120], After a lengthy period in hospital, on 14 February 1960 Bevan returned home and announced he would not be returning to politics in the near future, so as to be able to recuperate and plan an extended holiday. [45][by whom? He was the architect of the National Health Service and leader of the left-wing (Bevanite) group of the Labour Party. His father was a miner and the poor working class family in which Bevan grew up gave him first-hand experience of the problems. From 1950, onwards it's been attacked, the reason he resigned from government, but has managed to last 75yrs. 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. Bevan was not academically sharp Aneurin Bevan with his eye on the Ball. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. In his 2014 biography, Nick Thomas-Symonds described "an outpouring of national mourning" that followed Bevan's death. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [36] He was a strong critic of Chamberlain, arguing that his old rival Winston Churchill should become prime minister. In one of his most noted speeches made against Churchill, he railed that the prime minister "wins debate after debate and loses battle after battle". 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.