Sir Harold Josiah Finch (2 May 189816 July 1979) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

Labour Party politician born in

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

. He was a miners' agent in Blackwood after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Finch was a contemporary of

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government in which he spearheaded the creation of the British National Health ...

and accompanied him as a miners' delegate to the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool in 1925. He was elected as

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 of ...

for

Bedwellty Bedwellty is a small village in Caerphilly County Borough in south Wales. The village stands on a ridge of high ground between the Rhymney and Sirhowy valleys. The village comprises a parish church, public house and a few houses. The ancient pa ...

at the 1950 general election and was Under-secretary of State at the Welsh Office from 1964 to 1966 during

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 ...

's first administration. He held the seat until he retired from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at the 1970 general election. His successor was

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...

, who later became a leader of the Labour Party. Finch was knighted in the

1976 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 4 June 1976 for ...

for his services to politics and the trade union movement. He was the first 'Freeman' of Islwyn Borough Council and the Sir Harold Finch Memorial Park was created in 1982 at Pontllanfraith. He died on 16 July 1979 in Newport, aged 81.''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007''

References

1898 births 1979 deaths Knights Bachelor Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 National Union of Mineworkers-sponsored MPs UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 Welsh Labour Party MPs {{Wales-Labour-UK-MP-stub