Jim Griffiths | |
|---|---|
 Griffiths in 1959 | |
| Secretary of State for Wales | |
| In office 16 October 1964 – 5 April 1966 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | Office Created |
| Succeeded by | Cledwyn Hughes |
| Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Deputy Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 2 February 1956 – 24 October 1959 | |
| Leader | Hugh Gaitskell |
| Preceded by | Herbert Morrison |
| Succeeded by | Aneurin Bevan |
| Secretary of State for the Colonies | |
| In office 28 February 1950 – 26 October 1951 | |
| Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | Arthur Creech Jones |
| Succeeded by | Oliver Lyttelton |
| Minister of National Insurance | |
| In office 27 July 1945 – 28 February 1950 | |
| Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | Leslie Hore-Belisha |
| Succeeded by | Edith Summerskill |
| Member of Parliament forLlanelli | |
| In office 26 March 1936 – 29 May 1970 | |
| Preceded by | John Henry Williams |
| Succeeded by | Denzil Davies |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1890-09-19)19 September 1890 |
| Died | 7 August 1975(1975-08-07) (aged 84) Teddington, Greater London |
| Nationality | Welsh |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Winifred Rutley |
James (Jeremiah) GriffithsCH PC (19 September 1890 – 7 August 1975) was aWelsh Labour Party politician who served for 34 years as aMember of Parliament (MP). He was a trade union leader and became the firstSecretary of State for Wales, serving from 1964 to 1966 underHarold Wilson.
He was born in the predominantlyWelsh-speaking village ofBetws, nearAmmanford in Carmarthenshire. The youngest of ten children, his father, William Griffiths, was the local blacksmith. He spoke no English until he was five.[1] Educated at Betws Board School, he left at the age of 13 to work at Ammanford No. 1 colliery (Gwaith Isa'r Betws), where he eventually became Lodge Secretary. Griffiths was apacifist and while campaigning against theGreat War met fellow socialistWinifred Rutley, and they married in October 1918.[2] His brother (David Rees Griffiths, 1882–1953) was a Welsh poet who took the bardic name of 'Amanwy' after his native valley.
Griffiths continued his education by attending night school and became an active socialist. He helped establish a branch of theIndependent Labour Party inAmmanford in 1908 and soon became its secretary. Later, he occupied the powerful post of secretary of the newly formed Ammanford Trades Council (1916–1919). At the age of 29, he left the colliery on a miner's scholarship (1919–1921) to theCentral Labour College, London, where at the same timeAneurin Bevan andMorgan Phillips were studying.[3]
On returning home, Griffiths worked asLlanelliLabour Party agent (1922–1925), before becoming an agent for theAnthracite Miners' Association (1925–1936), and President of the powerfulSouth Wales Miners' Federation – known locally as the Fed – in theAnthracite district of West Wales (1934–1936). In 1936, he was elected Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for what was thensafe seat of Llanelli. Three years later, he continued his rise through the Labour movement by getting elected to the party'sNational Executive Committee. In 1942, he led 97 Labour MP's to vote against the Labour Party's compromise withWinston Churchill'sConservative Party for the government to neither endorse nor condemn theBeveridge Report recommending the establishment of a comprehensivewelfare state inpostwar Britain. Despite the defiance of the party leadership, the vote boosted Labour's popularity by demonstrating its support for the report's recommendations.[4]
Following Labour's victory at the1945 general election, he was made aPrivy Counsellor and Minister for National Insurance by Prime MinisterClement Attlee. In this role, he was responsible for creating the modern state benefit system. He introduced theFamily Allowances Act 1945, theNational Insurance Act 1946 and the National Assistance and Industrial Injuries Act 1948. Along with Bevan, he was one of the chief architects of theBritish welfare state. He served as Chairman of the Labour Party (1948–1949), and in 1950 he becameSecretary of State for the Colonies. Within two years, though, the Labour Party was out of office.
During the long period in opposition, Griffiths becameDeputy Leader of the Labour Party (1955–1959), and spokesman on Welsh affairs. He used his good relationship withHugh Gaitskell to commit the Labour Party to a measure ofdevolution. Amid theSuez Crisis of 1956, he made an important speech opposing the underhanded tactics of the then Prime MinisterAnthony Eden in which he stated: "This is for our country a black and tragic week... an unjustifiable and wicked war". This was said to sum up the mood of many at the time.
Given Griffiths' determination in having campaigned for aSecretary of State for Wales ever since the 1930s,Harold Wilson persuaded him to delay retirement and serve as the first Secretary of State for Wales following Labour's1964 general election victory.[5] At Wilson's instigation, Griffiths established theWelsh Office and laid the foundations for the role until the1966 general election, whereupon he returned to the backbenches. He was appointed aMember of the Order of the Companions of Honour.
Though by now suffering from ill-health, Griffiths avoided resigning from theHouse of Commons, because he feared that if he did so, Labour would lose a by-election in Llanelli.Plaid Cymru had captured the neighbouring seat ofCarmarthen in 1966; and the Llanelli Rugby coachCarwyn James was poised to stand for Plaid Cymru in a by-election, had Griffiths stood down. He remained in Parliament until the1970 general election, by which time he was about to turn 80 and was among Parliament's oldest MPs, and among the few born in the 19th century. He was succeeded in Llanelli byDenzil Davies, who fended off the Plaid Cymru challenge. Similarly to Griffiths, Davies would remain MP for the constituency for around 35 years. The previous year, Griffiths had published his autobiography,Pages From Memory (London: Dent, 1969).
He died inTeddington, Greater London, aged 84, leaving two sons and two daughters. He is buried at the Christian Temple chapel in Ammanford. In a memorial address,Jim Callaghan, prime minister (1976–79), described him as "one of the greatest sons of Wales. We honour the memory of Jim Griffiths of Ammanford. I mention his birth place because, despite all his honours and journeyings, it was the place of his birth, deep in the heart of Wales, that essentially shaped his life and actions."
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLlanelli 1936–1970 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of National Insurance 1945–1950 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for the Colonies 1950–1951 | Succeeded by |
| New ministerial post | Secretary of State for Wales 1964–1966 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of theLabour Party 1948–1949 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party 1955–1959 | Succeeded by |
| Trade union offices | ||
| Preceded by John Thomas | Agent for the Anthracite District of theSouth Wales Miners' Federation 1925–1934 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of theSouth Wales Miners Federation 1934–1936 | Succeeded by |
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