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Edmund Dell | |
|---|---|
 Dell in 1969 byGodfrey Argent | |
| Secretary of State for Trade | |
| In office 8 April 1976 – 11 November 1978 | |
| Prime Minister | James Callaghan |
| Preceded by | Peter Shore |
| Succeeded by | John Smith |
| Member of Parliament forBirkenhead | |
| In office 15 October 1964 – 3 May 1979 | |
| Preceded by | Percy Collick |
| Succeeded by | Frank Field |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1921-08-15)15 August 1921 London, England |
| Died | 31 October 1999(1999-10-31) (aged 78) London, England |
| Political party | Liberal Democrats (after 1988) |
| Other political affiliations | Labour (until 1981) SDP (1981–1988) |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | Queen's College, Oxford |
Edmund Emanuel Dell (15 August 1921 –c. 31 October 1999[a]) was a British politician and businessman. He was aLabour MP and minister in the 1960s and 1970s, but after leaving parliament, joined theSocial Democratic Party and its eventual successor, theLiberal Democrats.
Dell was born inHackney, London, in 1921, the son of a Jewish manufacturer.[1] In theSecond World War he served in theRoyal Artillery, reaching the rank of lieutenant.[1] He was educated atDame Alice Owen's School andQueen's College, Oxford where he was a member of theCommunist Party, as his future ministerial colleagueDenis Healey had been before the war. He graduated with first class honours in Modern History in 1947.[1]
Dell began work forImperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in Manchester as an overseas sales manager, specialising in Latin American trade and eventually rose to Vice President of the Plastics Division. However, he began to find himself in the difficult position of balancing a career in business with Labour politics. He was elected toManchester City Council in 1953, and served for seven years.[1]
Dell stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in 1955 inMiddleton and Prestwich. He was dissuaded from standing for Parliament in 1959 by ICI, on the grounds that it would make promotion to the highest ranks of the company difficult. However, he eventually gave in to the temptation of national politics, and was elected to Parliament as theLabourMember of Parliament forBirkenhead in 1964.[4] He served asParliamentary private secretary toJack Diamond, then asParliamentary Under-Secretary of State at theMinistry of Technology underTony Benn in 1966 and theDepartment of Economic Affairs underPeter Shore in 1967.[1] The following year, he was promoted toMinister of State for Trade. Switched to theDepartment of Employment in 1969, he was made aPrivy Councillor in 1970.
Dell was one of the 69 rebel Labour MPs who sided with theConservative government and voted for Britain's entry into theEuropean Communities in 1971.[4] He subsequently refused to take a frontbench role while in opposition and served as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. WhenHarold Wilson returned to10 Downing Street as prime minister in 1974, Dell becamePaymaster General, thenSecretary of State for Trade and President of the Board of Trade between 1976 and 1978 inJames Callaghan's government.[4] He was tipped to becomeChancellor of the Exchequer but resigned his seat, increasingly disillusioned by Labour's drift to the Left as he moved sharply to the Right. He had always been much more oriented towardfree-market capitalism than his comrades in the Labour Party, and grew increasingly uncomfortable in a party that was growing increasingly dominated by advocates of aplanned economy and corporatism.
Dell joined the newSocial Democratic Party and, following its merger with theLiberal Party in 1988, he was a member of theLiberal Democrats.[1] He served as a trustee of both the SDP and the Liberal Democrats and served as one of SDP's three representatives during emergency negotiations with the Liberals in January 1988 when it appeared the two parties' merger might fall through after the failed launch byDavid Steel andBob Maclennan of the joint manifesto,Voices and Choices.
After Parliament, Dell had a career in business as chairman of Guinness Peat, founding chairman ofChannel 4 and as a director of Shell Trading.[1] In 1991-2 he was president of the LondonChamber of Commerce and Industry. In 1996, he wroteThe Chancellors: A History of Chancellors of the Exchequer 1945–90. His book,A Strange Eventful History, Democratic Socialism in Britain was published posthumously in 2000. It was a summation of his critique of the Labour Party's long history being attached to what he saw as "much Keynesianism and too much of the detritus of socialism." Although he had voted for Labour in 1992 and 1997, he still thought that New Labour ultimately "will not fully have entered the modern world until it learns to love capitalism with all its warts." He was especially angry with both parties in 1950–51 for refusing to join the European Community at an early stage when it could have a powerful voice.[6] He said it represented, "the British abdication of leadership in Europe."[7]
In 1963, Dell married Susanne Gottschalk.[1] The couple lived inHampstead Garden Suburb.[1]
Dell died from cancer at a hospice facility inFinchley in 1999, at the age of 78.[a]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBirkenhead 1964–1979 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Paymaster General 1974–1976 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Trade 1976–1978 | Succeeded by |
| Media offices | ||
| New office | Chairman ofChannel 4 1982–1987 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
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