The Right Honourable The Lord Greenwood of Rossendale PC |
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Minister of Housing and Local Government | |
In office 11 August 1966 – 31 May 1970 |
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Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
Preceded by | Richard Crossman |
Succeeded by | Bob Mellish |
Minister of Overseas Development | |
In office 23 December 1965 – 11 August 1966 |
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Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
Preceded by | Barbara Castle |
Succeeded by | Arthur Bottomley |
Secretary of State for the Colonies | |
In office 18 October 1964 – 23 December 1965 |
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Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
Preceded by | Duncan Sandys |
Succeeded by | The Earl of Longford |
Chair of the Labour Party | |
In office 4 October 1963 – 13 December 1964 |
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Leader | Harold Wilson |
Preceded by | Dai Davies |
Succeeded by | Ray Gunter |
Member of Parliament for Rossendale |
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In office 23 February 1950 – 18 June 1970 |
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Preceded by | George Henry Walker |
Succeeded by | Ronald Bray |
Member of Parliament for Heywood and Radcliffe |
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In office 21 February 1946 – 23 February 1950 |
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Preceded by | John Edmondson Whittaker |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born |
14 September 1911 Leeds |
Died | 12 April 1982 (aged 70) |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Labour |
Spouse(s) | Jillian Crawshay-Williams |
Children | 2 |
Parents |
Arthur Greenwood Catherine Ainsworth |
Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
Arthur William James Anthony Greenwood, Baron Greenwood of Rossendale, PC (14 September 1911 – 12 April 1982) was a prominent British Labour Party politician in the 1950s and 1960s.
The son of Arthur Greenwood (Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under Clement Attlee) and his wife Catherine Ainsworth, Greenwood was born in Leeds and educated at Merchant Taylors' School, and then read politics, philosophy and economics at Balliol College, Oxford, where he held the posts of chairman of the Labour Club and, in 1933, president of the Oxford Union. In 1933 he visited India as a member of the British Universities' Debating Team.
After university Greenwood continued with political work, which included debating trips to the USA and some freelance journalism. He began, but did not complete, studies for the Bar at the Middle Temple. Early employment consisted of a spell as economic secretary to an industrialist and then, in 1938-9, work for the National Fitness Council. From 1939 to 1942 Greenwood worked at the Ministry of Information where, in 1941, he became private secretary to the Director-General Walter Monckton, with whom he travelled to Russia and the Middle East. In the summer of 1942 he joined the Royal Air Force, and in February 1943 was commissioned as an Intelligence Officer. In December 1944 he was seconded to the War Cabinet Offices, to work with Monckton on an inquiry into the Mulberry harbours.
Greenwood joined the Labour Party at the age of 14 and was a prospective candidate for Colchester before the war. He led the Labour group on Hampstead Borough Council from 1945 until 1949, and entered Parliament as member for Heywood and Radcliffe in a by-election in February 1946. Following boundary changes, he moved to represent Rossendale in 1950. He was vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party in 1950-1, and was in the Shadow Cabinet from 1951 to 1952 and from 1955 to 1960. He also served on the party's National Executive Committee from 1954 to 1960 and became the first Chair of Labour Friends of Israel in 1957.