David Hedley Ennals, Baron Ennals, (19 August 1922 – 17 June 1995) was a

British Labour Party The Labour Party is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of Social democracy, social democrats, Democratic socialism, democratic socialists and trade u ...

politician and campaigner for human rights. He served as Secretary of State for Social Services from 1976 to 1979.

Early life and military career

Born in 1922 in Walsall, Staffordshire to Arthur Ford Ennals and his wife Jessie Edith Taylor, Ennals was educated at Queen Mary's Grammar School, Walsall and the Loomis Institute in Windsor, Connecticut on a one-year student exchange scholarship. In 1939 he was a reporter on the ''

Walsall Observer The ''Walsall Observer'' was a weekly newspaper, published in Walsall in the West Midlands of England from 1868 to 2009. History Founded October 24, 1868 by brothers John and William Griffin as ''The Walsall Observer, and General District Adver ...

''. In Wolverhampton on his nineteenth birthday, 19 August 1941, he enlisted in the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

(RASC) and joined 9th Training Battalion (Drivers) at Alfreton. Selected for officer training, he was posted to 162 Officer Cadet Training Unit at Lanark in March 1942. He was commissioned into the Reconnaissance Corps in September 1942 and posted to the 3rd Regiment Reconnaissance Corps (NF) (3 Recce), part of the 3rd Infantry Division. His service number was 245228. Landing in Normandy on D-Day, 6 June 1944, Lieutenant Ennals commanded a Contact Detachment providing wireless links between units. On the night of 28/29 June 1944 he went on a night patrol with 1st Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment who were holding the position to the right of 3 Recce to the north of

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,fracture of his right humerus. He was transferred to a UK hospital on the 14 August and classed as unfit for duty until he was invalided out with the rank of Lieutenant in 1947.

Political career

Ennals stood unsuccessfully as a Liberal candidate for Richmond (Surrey) in the 1950 general election and again 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 United ...

. He later joined the Labour Party and served as secretary to the international department at the Labour Party's head office. In

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

he was elected as the Member of Parliament for

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

. Following the 1966 election,

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

appointed Ennals as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Army. He moved to become

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department This article lists past and present Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State serving the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom at the Home Office. Non-permanent and parliamentary under-secretaries, 1782–present *April 1782: Evan Nepean *April 17 ...

in 1967 under

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

before being appointed as a Minister of State for Social Services in 1968. He lost his government post and his seat following Labour's defeat in the 1970 general election. However, in Wilson's Resignation Honours, he was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. Ennals returned to parliament representing

Norwich North Norwich North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2009 by Conservative Chloe Smith. History The constituency was created by the Representation of the People Act 1948 for the 1950 general electio ...

following the February 1974 general election and was appointed

Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs The minister of state for international environment is a junior ministerial position in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is currently held by The Lord Benyon. Responsibilities The minister’s responsibilities include ...

. In 1976 he became Secretary of State for Social Services, which he held until Labour lost power in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. During his tenure he appointed Sir Douglas Black to produce the

Black Report The Black Report was a 1980 document published by the Department of Health and Social Security (now the Department of Health and Social Care) in the United Kingdom, which was the report of the expert committee into health inequality chaired by S ...

(published in 1980) into health inequality. After losing his seat in the general election of 1983, he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

, as Baron Ennals, of Norwich in the County of Norfolk.

Other work

Following his exit from parliament in 1970, Ennals became Campaign Director for the

National Association for Mental Health Mind is a mental health charity in England and Wales. Founded in 1946 as the National Association for Mental Health (NAMH), it celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2016. Mind offers information and advice to people with mental health problems an ...

(MIND), which he served as until 1973. He became chairman in 1984, and served as President from 1989 to 1995. After serving as secretary to the

United Nations Association A United Nations Association (UNA) is a non-governmental organization that exist in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of member states and the United Nations to raise public awareness of the UN and its work, to promot ...

from 1952 to 1957, he became chairman in 1984, as well as Chairman of the Gandhi Foundation, which he held until 1995. Ennals also served as Chairman of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, from 1960 to 1964, a position that would also be held by his brother John from 1968 to 1976. However, he later came under criticism from the Movement for his involvement in passing the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968. In 1987 Lord Ennals went on a parliamentary fact-finding mission to Tibet and on his return to the UK he became a tireless campaigner for Tibetan independence and a personal friend of the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...

. He joined the Tibet Society of the UK, Tibet Society of the UK
the first Tibet support group in the world, established in 1959, and became its chairman for a number of years. He campaigned energetically and enthusiastically with it and various other UK and international Tibet support groups until his death in 1995.

Personal life

Ennals married Eleanor Maud Caddick (born 1924/1925) on 10 June 1950, and they had four children before they divorced in 1977. Later that year he married Katherine Gene Tranoy (born 1926/1927). Ennals had an older brother, John and a younger brother Martin. Martin Ennals, was a human rights activist and Secretary-General of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

. His son, Sir Paul Ennals, is chief executive of the

National Children's Bureau The National Children’s Bureau works collaboratively across the issues affecting children to influence policy and get services working together to deliver a better childhood. Established in 1963, they have been at the forefront of campaigning f ...

. He died in 1995 of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

at his home in Belsize Park, London.

Footnotes

References

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External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ennals, David 1922 births 1995 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British Secretaries of State British World War II prisoners of war Deaths from pancreatic cancer Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dover Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 People educated at Queen Mary's Grammar School People from Walsall Reconnaissance Corps officers Secretaries of State for Health and Social Services UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Military personnel from Staffordshire World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Royal Armoured Corps soldiers Deaths from cancer in England Loomis Chaffee School alumni