Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Bevanism
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
{{Short description|Political ideology of Aneurin Bevan}} [[File:Aneurin Bevan (1943).jpg|thumb|[[Aneurin Bevan]]]] {{use British English|date=June 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} '''Bevanism''' was a movement on the [[Left wing politics|left wing]] of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] in the late 1950s led by [[Aneurin Bevan]] which also included [[Richard Crossman]], [[Michael Foot]] and [[Barbara Castle]].<ref>Matt Beech, et al. eds. ''The Struggle for Labour's Soul: Understanding Labour's Political Thought Since 1945'' (2004) pp 7-23.</ref> Bevanism was opposed by the [[Gaitskellite]]s,<ref name=quizlet/> moderate [[social democrats]] within the party.<ref name=quizlet>{{cite web |title='Bevanism' vs 'Gaitskellites' Labour Party Divisions flashcards |url=https://quizlet.com/82580255/bevanism-vs-gaitskellites-labour-party-divisions-flash-cards/ |publisher=Quizlet |date=1956-07-26 |access-date=2016-03-29}}</ref> The Gaitskellites typically won most of the battles inside Parliament, but Bevanism was stronger among local Labour activists. The Bevanites split over the issue of nuclear weapons, and the movement faded away after Bevan died in 1960. == History == Bevanism was influenced by [[Marxism]]; Bevan's biographer and later [[Leader of the Labour Party (UK)|Leader of the Labour Party]] [[Michael Foot]] said that Bevan's "belief in the [[class conflict]] stayed unshaken", while acknowledging that Bevan was not a traditional Marxist.<ref name="Foot2011">{{cite book |last=Foot |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Foot |title=Aneurin Bevan: A Biography: Volume 2: 1945β1960 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0jeyDZ_1h1cC&pg=PT15 |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=2011 |page=15 |isbn=978-0-571-28085-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Campbell|first=John|author-link = John Campbell (biographer) |title=Nye Bevan: A Biography|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton|year=1994}}</ref>{{pn|date=June 2022}} Despite declaring inspiration from [[Karl Marx]], Bevan did not visibly support insurrectionist concepts of [[proletarian revolution]], arguing that revolution depended on the circumstances,<ref name="Thomas-Symonds2014">{{cite book |last=Thomas-Symonds |first=Nicklaus |author-link=Nick Thomas-Symonds |title=Nye: The Political Life of Aneurin Bevan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ytHGBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year=2014 |page=34 |isbn=978-0-85773-499-0}}</ref> or the typical organisational model of many Communist parties. According to [[Ed Balls]], Bevan and his supporters instead preferred a strident but pluralist conception of [[democratic socialism]], tempered by pragmatic sensibilities and practical application.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Balls|first1=Ed|authorlink1=Ed Balls|title=A visionary pragmatist: why Bevan is a Labour hero|url=http://www.edballs.co.uk/blog/speeches-articles/a-visionary-pragmatist-why-bevan-is-a-labour-hero-2011-aneurin-bevan-memorial-lecture/|access-date=29 March 2016|work=2011 Aneurin Bevan Memorial Lecture|via=Ed Balls' personal blog|date=25 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413192021/http://www.edballs.co.uk/blog/speeches-articles/a-visionary-pragmatist-why-bevan-is-a-labour-hero-2011-aneurin-bevan-memorial-lecture/|archive-date=13 April 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Howell|first=David|title=The Rise and Fall of Bevanism|year=1980}}</ref> The Bevanite Group of MPs, of which there were about three dozen, coalesced following Bevan's resignation from the Cabinet in 1951 when the health service started charging for previously free services such as spectacles in order to help pay for Britain's involvement in the [[Korean War]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kynaston|first1=David|title=Family Britain 1951-7|year=2009|publisher=Bloomsbury|location=London|isbn=9780747583851|page=[https://archive.org/details/familybritain1950000kyna/page/79 79]|url=https://archive.org/details/familybritain1950000kyna/page/79}}</ref> Bevanites [[Harold Wilson]] and [[John Freeman (British politician)|John Freeman]] resigned with Bevan himself. The group in Parliament drew heavily from the previous [[Keep Left (pamphlet)|"Keep Left"]] group, which had previously dissented from the pro-American foreign policy of the 1945β1951 Labour government favoured by [[Clement Attlee]], his Foreign Secretary [[Ernest Bevin]] and [[Hugh Gaitskell]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://labourhistory.org.uk/hugh-gaitskell-50-years-on/ |title=Hugh Gaitskell β 50 Years On | Labour History Group |publisher=Labourhistory.org.uk |date=2013-06-24 |access-date=29 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327214225/http://labourhistory.org.uk/hugh-gaitskell-50-years-on/ |archive-date=27 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to Crossman in December 1951 the group was not organised, and Bevan could not be persuaded to have any consistent or coherent strategy, but they did have a group who met regularly and liked each other and came to represent "real Socialism" to a large number of Party members. ''[[Picture Post]]'' called them the "Bevanly Host" in April 1952.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kynaston|first1=David|title=Family Britain 1951-7|date=2009|publisher=Bloomsbury|location=London|isbn=9780747583851|page=80}}<!--|accessdate=23 August 2015--></ref> == Local organisations == Bevanites organised in [[Constituency Labour Parties]] across Britain, and set up local discussion groups known as "Brains Trusts", also a legacy of the "Keep Left" group. Brains Trusts organised in support of the newspaper favoured by Bevanites, ''[[Tribune (magazine)|Tribune]]'' magazine, allocating left-wing MPs and campaigners to form speaking panels around the country. ''Tribune'' itself provided an important print voice for Bevanite politicians and was in wide circulation. == Objectives == The main Bevanite objectives were: *[[State ownership]] of the "[[commanding heights of the economy]]". Many nationalisations had made up the bedrock of Labour's previous manifestos, such as "Let us face the future". Bevanites' views towards nationalisation mirrored those of [[Vladimir Lenin]], in that state control was only seen as necessary in the context of exchange or distribution, as opposed to the total and immediate appropriation of as much [[private property]] as possible. * A comprehensive and completely free '[[Beveridge Report|cradle to grave]]' [[Welfare state in the United Kingdom|system of welfare]], [[Healthcare in the United Kingdom|health provision]] and [[Education in the United Kingdom|education]]. * [[Housing in the United Kingdom|Housing]] for all. * [[Full employment]]. *The nationalisation of the steel industry, contrary to the views of many colleagues.<ref>{{cite news|title=TUC Caution on Further Nationalisation|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=W0JAAAAAIBAJ&pg=1768%2C651647|work=The Glasgow Herald|date=9 January 1953|page=5}}</ref> * Contempt for [[dogma]] as a modus operandi; an open-minded approach to [[democratic socialism]]. * Respect for the arts. * General unwillingness to yield upon the perceived gains made since 1945, for example, opposition to [[Means test|means testing]] for social security benefits, and opposition to [[prescription charges]] as military spending increased. * A complementary ability to drop unpopular policies. * Freedom of debate, opinion and criticism within the Labour Party. * Scepticism towards most [[History of United States foreign policy|American foreign policy]], especially the [[Southeast Asia Treaty Organization]] and [[West German rearmament]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/pistolsatdawntwo0000camp/13960/t6wx5mm07 |title=Pistols at Dawn: Two Hundred Years of Political Rivalry from Pitt and Fox to Blair and Brown |date=2010 |publisher=Vintage |isbn=978-1-84595-091-0 |location=London |pages=222 |oclc=489636152}}</ref><ref name = "Thorpe">{{Cite book |last=Thorpe |first=Andrew |author-link = Andrew Thorpe |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0 |title=A History of the British Labour Party |date=1997 |publisher=Macmillan Education UK |isbn=978-0-333-56081-5 |location=London | language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0}}</ref>{{rp|133}} * Greater [[industrial democracy]] and [[workers' control]] of nationalized industries, which Bevan believed were governed unconstitutionally due to their lack of public accountability.<ref name = "Thorpe"/>{{rp|139}} == Party role == Historian [[Kenneth O. Morgan]] says. "Bevan alone kept the flag of left-wing socialism aloft throughout β which gave him a matchless authority amongst the constituency parties and in party conference."<ref>Kenneth O. Morgan, ''Labour in Power'' (1984) p 57.</ref> At the 1952 Labour Party Conference, Bevanites were elected to six of the seven places on the [[National Executive Committee of the Labour Party|National Executive Committee]] by constituency representatives.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kynaston |first=David |title=Family Britain 1951-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/familybritain1950000kyna/page/250 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |date=2009 |page=[https://archive.org/details/familybritain1950000kyna/page/250 250] |isbn=9780747583851}}</ref> == Split over nuclear disarmament == Later in his political career, Bevan began advocating the maintenance of [[Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom|Britain's nuclear deterrent]], against those who became associated with the [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]] (CND), saying that without them a future British foreign secretary would be going "naked into the conference chamber."<ref>{{cite news |title=Your favourite Conference Clips |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/6967366.stm |website=BBC Daily Politics |date=3 October 2007 |access-date=29 March 2016}}</ref> This split the Bevanites; many, such as leading Bevanite<ref>{{cite news |author=[[John Beavan, Baron Ardwick]] |title=Michael Foot: Writer and politician who rose to become leader of the Labour Party |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/michael-foot-writer-and-politician-who-rose-to-become-leader-of-the-labour-party-1915727.html |work=The Independent |date=4 March 2010 |access-date=29 March 2016}}</ref> Michael Foot, continued to oppose Britain's nuclear weapons, with [[The longest suicide note in history|Labour's 1983 manifesto]] under Foot's leadership of the party calling for [[unilateral nuclear disarmament]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Vaidyanathan |first=Rajini |title=Michael Foot: What did the 'longest suicide note' say? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8550425.stm |access-date=29 March 2016 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=4 March 2010}}</ref> == See also == {{portal|Politics|United Kingdom|Socialism}} {{col div|colwidth=40em}} * [[History of the British Labour Party]] * [[Political history of the United Kingdom (1945βpresent)]] * [[Tony Benn]] * [[Barbara Castle]] * [[Richard Crossman]] * [[Tom Driberg]] * [[Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge]] * [[Ian Mikardo]] * [[George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy]] {{colend}} == References == {{reflist}} == Further reading == * Foote, Geoffrey. "The Bevanite Left" in Foote, ed., ''The Labour Partyβs Political Thought''. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1997, pp. 260β278. * Jenkins, Mark. ''Bevanism, Labour's High Tide: The Cold War and the Democratic Mass Movement'' (Spokesman Press, 1979). * Jobson, Richard. "'Waving the Banners of a Bygone Age', Nostalgia and Labour's Clause IV Controversy, 1959β60." ''Contemporary British History'' 27.2 (2013): 123β144. * Steck, Henry J. "Grassroots Militants & Ideology: The Bevanite Revolt." ''Polity'' 2.4 (1970): 426β442. [[Category:Labour Party (UK) factions]] [[Category:History of the Labour Party (UK)]] [[Category:Eponymous political ideologies]] [[Category:Social democracy]] [[Category:Democratic socialism]] [[Category:1950s in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Types of socialism]]
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page
(
help
)
:
Template:Cite book
(
edit
)
Template:Cite news
(
edit
)
Template:Cite web
(
edit
)
Template:Col div
(
edit
)
Template:Colend
(
edit
)
Template:Pn
(
edit
)
Template:Portal
(
edit
)
Template:Reflist
(
edit
)
Template:Rp
(
edit
)
Template:Short description
(
edit
)
Template:Use British English
(
edit
)
Template:Use dmy dates
(
edit
)