Arthur Greenwood

Greenwood was born in Hunslet, Leeds, the son of a painter and decorator. He was educated at the Yorkshire College (which later became the University of Leeds), where he took a BSc.

Greenwood was first elected to the House of Commons at the 1922 general election for the constituency of Nelson and Colne in Lancashire. He held the seat until being defeated at the 1931 election, but returned to Parliament the following year, winning a by-election in the Yorkshire constituency of Wakefield. Greenwood continued to represent Wakefield until his death in 1954. Greenwood was an active freemason, associated with the New Welcome Lodge.^[1]

In 1929, Greenwood was appointed Minister of Health, remaining in the post until the collapse of the Labour government in August 1931; he was sworn into the Privy Council at the time of his appointment. During his period at the Ministry of Health, Greenwood raised widows' pensions and through the Housing Act 1930 enacted large-scale slum clearance.

Greenwood became Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under Clement Attlee. During the 1935 General Election campaign, Greenwood attacked Chancellor of the Exchequer Neville Chamberlain for spending money on rearmament, saying that the rearmament policy was "the merest scaremongering; disgraceful in a statesman of Mr Chamberlain's responsible position, to suggest that more millions of money needed to be spent on armaments."^[2]

On 2 September 1939, acting for Attlee who was in hospital for prostate surgery, he was called to respond to Neville Chamberlain's ambivalent speech on whether Britain would aid Poland. As he was about to speak, he was interrupted by an angry Conservative backbencher and former First Lord of the Admiralty, Leo Amery, who electrified the chamber when he exclaimed loud and clear: "Speak for England, Arthur!"^[3]

A flustered Greenwood proceeded to denounce Chamberlain's remarks, to the applause of both sides of the House, in a short speech for which he is best remembered.

I am gravely disturbed. An act of aggression took place thirty-eight hours ago. The moment that act of aggression took place one of the most important treaties of modern times automatically came into operation … I wonder how long we are prepared to vacillate at a time when Britain, and all that Britain stands for, and human civilisation are in peril.

— Arthur Greenwood, House of Commons, 2 September 1939, ^[4]

When the wartime coalition government was formed, Winston Churchill appointed him to the War Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio in 1940. He was generally seen as ineffectual, but in May 1940 he emerged as Churchill's strongest and most vocal supporter in the lengthy War Cabinet debates on whether to accept or reject a peace offer from Germany.^[5] Without the vote in favour of fighting on by Greenwood and Clement Attlee, Churchill would not have had the slim majority he needed to do so.^[6]

After that, his influence declined, and he resigned in 1943. The same year, he was elected as Treasurer of the Labour Party, beating Herbert Morrison in a close contest.^[7]

From February 1942 until the end of World War II, Greenwood also performed the function of Leader of the Opposition, though he did not receive the salary.

During the Attlee government, he served successively as Lord Privy Seal and Paymaster General.

Greenwood died on 9 June 1954 at the age of 74, being cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 14 June 1954. His ashes and memorial lie in Bay 17 of the East Boundary Wall.

Greenwood's son Anthony Greenwood (later Lord Greenwood, 1911–1982) was an MP from 1946 until 1970, first for Heywood and Radcliffe and later for Rossendale, and a member of Harold Wilson's governments.

• Dutton, D. (2001). Neville Chamberlain. Reputations (Arnold (Firm))). Arnold. ISBN 978-0-340-70626-8.
• Jenkins, R. (2012). Churchill: A Biography. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-330-47607-2.
• Hamill, John; Prescott, Andrew (1 April 2006). "'The Masons' Candidate': New Welcome Lodge No. 5139 and the Parliamentary Labour Party". Labour History Review. 71 (1): 9–42. doi:10.1179/174581806X103862.
• Marr, A. (2009). A History of Modern Britain. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-330-51329-6.
• Olson, L. (2008). Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-53133-1.
• Roberts, A. (2018). Churchill: Walking with Destiny. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-241-20564-8.
• The Economist. Economist Newspaper Limited. 1943.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arthur Greenwood.

• Works by Arthur Greenwood at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Arthur Greenwood at the Internet Archive
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Arthur Greenwood
• Newspaper clippings about Arthur Greenwood in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
• Portraits of Arthur Greenwood at the National Portrait Gallery, London