Bevin biography

Ernest Bevin  ©Between the 1920s and 1950s, Bevin was a central figure in the British labour movement and in British foreign policy, serving as foreign secretary in the late 1940s.

Bevin was born on 9 March 1881 in Somerset.

He received little formal education and was orphaned at the age of eight. He began work at 11 in the Bristol docks but soon exhibited an extraordinary gift for organisation. He became involved in the Dockers' Union and was instrumental in the creation of the Transport and General Workers Union, of which he became general secretary in 1922.

This was a monumental achievement, given that it required bringing together, and holding together, men and women from an enormous range of different jobs into a single, integrated union structure.

In the inter-war years, Bevin was, despite being outside parliament, a leading figure in the development of Labour Party strategy and ideology and was responsible for ensuring that the claims of o