John Ernest Silkin (18 March 1923 – 26 April 1987) was a British left-wing Labour politician and solicitor.

Early life

Silkin was born in London. He was the third son of Lewis Silkin, 1st Baron Silkin, and a younger brother of Samuel Silkin, Baron Silkin of Dulwich. He was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

, the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

and Trinity Hall,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. Silkin served in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

from 1942 to 1946. He was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant in 1943, serving in the East Indies Fleet, Eastern Fleet and Pacific Fleet aboard and , and ashore at Anderson, Ceylon ( FECB). He was later promoted lieutenant. He was demobilised in 1946 and returned to Cambridge. Silkin was admitted as a solicitor in 1950 and worked for his father's law practice in London.

Parliamentary career

He contested the seat of St Marylebone for the Labour Party at the 1950 general election, West Woolwich in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

and South Nottingham in

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

. He served as a councillor in the Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone (1962–1963) and was elected to the

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 ...

for the first time in July 1963. He served as the Labour Member of Parliament for

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 ...

(1963–1974) and for Lewisham, Deptford (1974–1987). He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1966. He served as a Government Chief Whip (1966–1969) and as the deputy leader of the House of Commons (1968–1969). He was appointed as the Minister of Public Buildings and Works (1969–1970) and the Minister for Planning and Local Government in the Department for the Environment (1974–1976). He served as the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1976–79). In opposition, Silkin was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1980 Labour leadership election following the resignation of

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the L ...

, losing to

Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Foot beg ...

, and in the deputy leadership election in 1981, losing to incumbent

Denis Healey Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party 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 lo ...

. He served as Opposition Spokesman on Industry (1979–1980), Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (1980–1983), Shadow Defence Secretary (1981–1983) and the Dairy Industry Arbitrator (1986–1987). Silkin's publication ''Changing Battlefields: The Challenge to the Labour Party'' appeared posthumously. His widow gave his papers to the Churchill Archives Centre in February 1990. These cover his parliamentary and ministerial career, as well as his other public interests, such as the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...

, the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

and the dairy industry. There is material of particular interest concerning his relationship with his

Constituency Labour Party A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituencies. In Sc ...

and on the Labour Party's 1980 leadership and 1981 deputy leadership elections.

Personal life

In 1950, Silkin married actress Rosamund John. They had one son. On 26 April 1987, Silkin died from a heart attack at his home in London. A by-election was not held due to the 1987 general election being called soon after Silkin’s death.

External links

*
The Papers of John Ernest Silkin
held at Churchill Archives Centre

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Silkin, John 1923 births 1987 deaths Agriculture ministers of the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of Wales Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge European democratic socialists English Jews English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of St Marylebone Metropolitan Borough Council People educated at Dulwich College Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Navy officers of World War II Treasurers of the Household UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Younger sons of barons Jewish British politicians Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970