Sir Isaac James Hayward (17 November 1884 – 3 January 1976) was a British politician who was the longest-serving leader of the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

. He served from 1947 until it was abolished on the expansion of London (to form

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

) in 1965.

Biography

Hayward was the son of a miner from

Blaenavon Blaenavon () is a town and community (Wales), community in Torfaen county borough, Wales, high on a hillside on the source of the Afon Lwyd. It is within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire and the Pr ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

, and helped in the mining some years from the age of 12. He became involved in

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

affairs and was chosen as a union official, which brought him to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. From 1932 he was

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the National Union of Enginemen, Firemen, Mechanics and Electrical Workers, retiring in 1946 when his other commitments precluded continuing. As a trade unionist he also became active in the Labour Party and was selected in 1928 to stand for the party in the

elections in the safe seat of

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe ( ) is a district of South London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, with the Isle of Dogs to the ea ...

Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the Cabinet as a member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minist ...

spotted him and in 1932 appointed him Chief Whip to the Labour Group, a job he retained until he became Leader. Hayward switched to representing

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

in 1937, and sat until 1955; he served as an Alderman from 1955 until the LCC was abolished in 1965 – a record of 36 years unbroken service which was more than any other member in the LCC's history. When Labour won power in 1934, Morrison appointed Hayward to the crucial job of Chairman of the

Public Assistance Committee A public assistance committee (PAC), in the UK, was a body locally created after the abolition of the boards of guardians in 1930 by the Local Government Act 1929, when their powers and responsibilities for poor relief were passed to county and c ...

. His job there was to turn the antiquated

Poor law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

system into a genuine system of welfare, and he instituted more generous programmes of help with rents and fuel, as well as building homes for the elderly that allowed for genuine privacy. Hayward had several other important Chairmanships from 1937. From 1945 Hayward was given the Education Chair. He was convinced that the future of education lay in comprehensive schools, of which there were none at the time. This was a highly controversial policy and Hayward had to steer it through opposition while restraining the demands of its strongest supporters. This success, and his skill in managing the party machine, led to his election as Leader in 1947. This LCC leading position had official status since 1933. The LCC was invited by the Government to build a concert hall in time for the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Labour Party cabinet member Herbert Morrison was the prime mover; in 1947 he started with the ...

in 1951. Despite the short timetable Hayward was convinced that it could do it, and the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

was opened on time. He expanded patronage of the arts and commissioned contemporary works. The

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...

on the South Bank is named in his honour. He was knighted in 1959. His tenure lasted 23% of the Council's lifespan and was almost double that of the two next-nearest in length. Hayward led the Labour Party's opposition to the Herbert Report recommendations that the LCC be abolished and replaced by a

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

, pointing to the work the LCC had done. However, there was a great deal of self-interest involved as the LCC had by this time become merely the inner urban boroughs. These had seen re-housed elsewhere well over one and a half a million residents in a 50-year population downturn (which would then continue another 20 years), had several

coal-fired power station A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating a gigawatt each. They generate ...

s and did not attract the property investment of a 21st-century internationally well-connected London. LCC had a 30-year

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

majority and when it was more right-wing, for 27 years before, the majority group tended to stand under the brand of Moderate or Municipal Reform. As to the LCC's abolition, he and, more directly, those speaking and voting in

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

lost the debate and the incoming

First Wilson ministry First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

chose not to reject the report and its linked, pending statute. Hayward retired on the forming of the successor council for London which saw devolved more powers and responsibility to boroughs and covered much greater territory. In elections during his leadership Labour won a firm majority, advancing from 80 seats of 150 (for the three years from 1948) to 102 out of 151 (for the final four years). When he died in 1974 he lived in Brockley, London SE4 and left very modest wealth, £2513.https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk Calendar of Probates and Administrations

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayward, Isaac 1884 births 1976 deaths Labour Party (UK) councillors Members of London County Council British trade union leaders Knights Bachelor People from Blaenavon Leaders of local authorities of England