Edmund Emanuel Dell (15 August 1921 – 1 November 1999
) was a British politician and businessman.
Early life
Dell was born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, the son of a Jewish manufacturer. In the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
he served in the
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
, reaching the rank of
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
. He was educated at
Dame Alice Owen's School and
Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...
where he was a member of the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...
, as his future ministerial colleague
Denis Healey
Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey, (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he remains the longe ...
had been before the war. He graduated with first class honours in Modern History in 1947.
Early career and politics
Dell began work for
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain.
It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926.
Its headquarters were at ...
(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 to
Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three f ...
in 1953, and served for seven years.
Political career
Labour party
Dell stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in 1955 in
Middleton 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 the
Labour Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...
in 1964.
[ He served as ]Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the ...
to Jack Diamond, then as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...
at the Ministry of Technology
The Ministry of Technology was a department of the government of the United Kingdom, sometimes abbreviated as "MinTech". The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of Harold Wilson in October 1964 as part of Wilson's am ...
under Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...
in 1966 and the Department of Economic Affairs under Peter Shore in 1967. The following year, he was promoted to Minister of State for Trade
The Minister of State for Trade Policy is a mid-level role at the Department for International Trade in the Government of the United Kingdom. It is currently held by Greg Hands, who took the office on 9 October 2022. The minister deputizes for ...
. Switched to the Department of Employment
The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In 1995 it was merged with Secretary of State for Education to make the Secretary of State for Education and Employment. In 2001 the employment functions w ...
in 1969, he was made a Privy Councillor
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...
in 1970.
Dell was one of the 69 rebel Labour MPs who sided with the Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
government and voted for Britain's entry into the European Communities
The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), and the ...
in 1971.[ He subsequently refused to take a frontbench role while in opposition and served as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. When ]Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
returned to 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along w ...
as Prime Minister in 1974, Dell became Paymaster General
His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP.
History
The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posi ...
, then Secretary of State for Trade and President of the Board of Trade between 1976 and 1978 in James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...
's government.[ He was tipped to become ]Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Ch ...
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 toward free-market capitalism
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or an ...
than his comrades in the Labour Party, and grew increasingly uncomfortable in a party that was growing increasingly dominated by advocates of a planned economy
A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, ...
and corporatism.
SDP and Liberal Democrats
Dell joined the new Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
and, after its merger with the Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
in 1988, he was a member of the Liberal Democrats. 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 by David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, (born 31 March 1938) is a British politician. Elected as Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Peebles, followed by Tweeddale, Ettrick, and Lauderdale, he served as the final leade ...
and Bob Maclennan
Robert Adam Ross Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart, (26 June 1936 – 18 January 2020) was a British Liberal Democrat politician and life peer.
He was the last leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), serving during the negotiations t ...
of the joint manifesto, ''Voices and Choices''.
Post-Parliament life
After Parliament, Dell had a career in business as chairman of Guinness Peat, founding chairman of Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
and as a director of Shell Trading. In 1991-2 he was president of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...
. In 1996, he wrote ''The 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. He said it represented, "the British abdication of leadership in Europe."[Edmund Dell, ''The Schuman Plan and the British Abdication of Leadership in Europe'' (Oxford, 1995)]
Personal life
Dell was married to Susan Gottschalk for 36 years.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dell, Edmund
1921 births
1999 deaths
Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford
British Army personnel of World War II
British Secretaries of State
Businesspeople from London
Channel 4 people
Councillors in Manchester
English Jews
English television executives
Imperial Chemical Industries people
Jewish British politicians
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Liberal Democrats (UK) politicians
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970
People educated at Dame Alice Owen's School
Politicians from London
Presidents of the Board of Trade
Royal Artillery officers
Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians
UK MPs 1964–1966
UK MPs 1966–1970
UK MPs 1970–1974
UK MPs 1974
UK MPs 1974–1979
United Kingdom Paymasters General
20th-century English businesspeople