Bill Fiske
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The Lord Fiske CBE |
|
|---|---|
| Leader of the Greater London Council | |
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In office 1964–1967 |
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| Succeeded by | Desmond Plummer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 July 1905 |
| Died | 13 January 1975 (aged 69) |
| Political party | Labour |
William Geoffrey Fiske, Baron Fiske, CBE (3 July 1905 – 13 January 1975), commonly known as Bill Fiske, was a British politician who was the first Leader of the Greater London Council and oversaw the decimalisation of the Pound Sterling as Chairman of the Decimal Currency Board.
Fiske came from a middle-class family with radical sympathies who often discussed politics, with his maternal grandfather a particularly strong influence. However, in his early life Fiske's main interest was in the art of ancient Greece. He was sent to Berkhamsted Collegiate School, and on leaving, went to work for the Bank of England. After twelve years at the Bank, he took advantage of its generous pension scheme and left in 1935, and began to work as a Company Secretary.
When World War II broke out, Fiske was drafted as a specialist into the Civil Service where he founded the Society of Civil Servants. The war helped to energise him in politics generally and he unsuccessfully fought the constituency of Hampstead for the Labour Party in the general election of 1945.
The next year saw Fiske elected to the London County Council for Hammersmith South, a seat previously held by the Conservatives. He managed to hold his seat and make it safe, while gradually becoming so enthusiastic about council work that by 1955 it had eclipsed his previous ambitions to be elected to Parliament. (On becoming Leader of the GLC, he observed that "Here you see far more of the results of what you do than you can across the river.") In the 1956 New Year Honours he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
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