Arthur Ernest Wicks (1915–2006) was a Labour politician and the last chairman of the

London County Council 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 kno ...

. A

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was first elected to the

Shoreditch Metropolitan Borough Council The Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch was a Metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1899 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington and the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney to form the London Borough ...

in the 1950s, and became chairman of housing, at a time when Shoreditch had one of England's highest concentrations of

municipal housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...

. Elected to the LCC for Shoreditch and Finsbury in 1952, he gave his time to housing and parks.

County Hall, London County Hall (sometimes called London County Hall) is a building in the district of Lambeth, London that was the headquarters of London County Council (LCC) and later the Greater London Council (GLC). The building is on the South Bank of the Riv ...

, a Labour stronghold since 1934, was a pioneering model for Labour ideas and plans, including comprehensive education, school music, housing development and the establishment of the

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

complex. As LCC chairman from 1963 to 1965, Arthur oversaw the transition in 1964 to the new

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 ...

. He represented Hackney on the GLC from 1964 to 1967, then

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

from 1967 to 1973 and finally

Islington South and Finsbury Islington South and Finsbury is a constituency created in 1974 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Emily Thornberry of the Labour Party. Thornberry served as Shadow Foreign Secretary from 2016 until 2020 ...

from 1973 to 1981. He also owned two shops and a cafe in

. His main shop, selling everything from paraffin and groceries to hardware, served as an informal advice surgery. His wife, Daisy, died in 1992 and he was survived by his sons. One of his sons –

Malcolm Wicks Malcolm Hunt Wicks (1 July 1947 – 29 September 2012) was a British Labour Party politician and academic specialising in social policy. He was a member of parliament (MP) from 1992, first for Croydon North West and then for Croydon North, unt ...

– who was a Labour Minister, died in September 2012 after a long illness, aged 65.

External links

Obituary for Arthur Wicks, by son Malcolm Wicks
5 December 2006 1915 births 2006 deaths British conscientious objectors Labour Party (UK) councillors Members of London County Council Members of the Greater London Council Members of Shoreditch Metropolitan Borough Council Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London {{England-politician-stub