George Edward Cecil Wigg, Baron Wigg, PC (28 November 1900 – 11 August 1983) was a British Labour Party politician who only served in relatively junior offices but had a great deal of influence behind the scenes, especially with Harold Wilson.

Background and early career

Wigg was the eldest of six children of Edward William Wigg (1870–1934), of

Uxbridge Road Uxbridge Road is the name of the A4020 road in West London. The route starts at Shepherd's Bush Green and goes west towards Uxbridge. It passes through Acton, Ealing, Hanwell, Southall, Hayes, and Hillingdon. Uxbridge Road is a major r ...

, Ealing, manager of a dairy business, and his wife Cecilia (née Comber). Whilst Wigg's mother was extremely industrious, delivering milk alongside doing all the household work, his father was "indolent, disgruntled and lacking ambition" despite his wife's encouragement. On the failure of his own dairy business, Edward Wigg worked for that of his elder brother; George Wigg worked there alongside his father from the age of ten. After years of poor fortunes and having suffered from alcoholism, Edward was found dead in Ewhurst Lake in 1934, near to his birthplace; his son observed: "Why he was at the lake and how he got into it remains a mystery. The coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure." Cecilia Wigg subsequently remarried to a soldier. George Wigg was educated at Fairfields Council School and at

Queen Mary's Grammar School Queen Mary's Grammar School (QMGS) is a boys' grammar school with academy status located on Sutton Road, Walsall, England, about a mile from the town centre and one of the oldest schools in the country. The sixth form is coeducational. Admiss ...

, both in Basingstoke. Wigg served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

as a regular soldier for almost all his career (from 1918 to 1937) up to his election as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

. He served in the

Royal Tank Corps The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as t ...

from 1919 to 1937 and returned to service in 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 opposi ...

, being commissioned into the

Army Educational Corps The Royal Army Educational Corps (RAEC) was a corps of the British Army tasked with educating and instructing personnel in a diverse range of skills. On 6 April 1992 it became the Educational and Training Services Branch (ETS) of the Adjutant Gene ...

in 1940 and serving until 1946 and reaching the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Emanuel Shinwell Emanuel Shinwell, Baron Shinwell, (18 October 1884 – 8 May 1986) was a British politician who served as a government minister under Ramsay MacDonald and Clement Attlee. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) f ...

during the

Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 t ...

government. According to Press Association reporter

Chris Moncrieff Christopher Wighton Moncrieff CBE (9 September 1931 – 22 November 2019) was a British journalist. He was the political editor of the Press Association from 1980 to 1994. Early life Moncrieff was born in Derby in 1931 to Robert Wighton Moncrie ...

, Wigg was unpopular with

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MPs, but managed to use procedure to place the

Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century British politics. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with 19-year-old model Christine Keeler be ...

on the record in Parliament, leading to the pursuit of Profumo which ultimately resulted in the latter's resignation. Wigg also played an important part in the aftermath of the failed prosecution of suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams by questioning in Parliament the unusual conduct of the Prosecution led by Attorney-General,

Reginald Manningham-Buller Reginald Edward Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne, (1 August 1905 – 7 September 1980), known as Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, Bt, from 1954 to 1962 and as The Lord Dilhorne from 1962 to 1964, was an English lawyer and Conservative pol ...

. In January 1964, Wigg won a High Court action for libel against

Angus Maude Angus Edmund Upton Maude, Baron Maude of Stratford-upon-Avon, (8 September 1912 – 9 November 1993) was a British Conservative Party politician. A Member of Parliament (MP) from 1950 to 1958 and from 1963 to 1983, he served as a cabinet min ...

, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

member. He was represented in court by Alan Orr QC, and substantial damages were awarded.

Paymaster-General; Peerage

Wigg was already known for passing on gossip to Harold Wilson (who had become Labour leader in 1963 on the death of Hugh Gaitskell). When Labour narrowly won the 1964 election Wilson appointed Wigg to the office of

Paymaster-General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP. History The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posit ...

. Wigg's responsibilities were many and varied: among them, he was Wilson's link to the Security Service and the Secret Intelligence Service. In November 1967, he was appointed Chairman of the

Horserace Betting Levy Board The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB), commonly abbreviated to the Levy Board, is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in the United Kingdom. It is a statutory body established by the Betting Le ...

(Wigg loved horse racing) and left Parliament. He was created a life peer on 27 November 1967 taking the title Baron Wigg, ''of the Borough of Dudley''. His resignation from parliament resulted in a by-election in the Dudley seat in early 1968, with the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

gaining the seat before Labour reclaimed it at the general election two years later. Wigg had been made a Privy Councillor in 1964.

Personal life

In 1930, Wigg married Florence, daughter of William Veal. They had three daughters.George Wigg, Lord Wigg, Michael Joseph, 1972, p. 82

References

External links

*
Catalogue of the Wigg papers
at th

of the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wigg, George 1900 births 1983 deaths British Army personnel of World War II Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 People educated at Queen Mary's School for Boys, Basingstoke Royal Army Educational Corps officers Royal Tank Regiment soldiers UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs who were granted peerages Life peers created by Elizabeth II United Kingdom Paymasters General People from Ealing Military personnel from London