Alfred James Wellbeloved (29 July 1926 – 10 September 2012) was a British politician who was the MP for Erith and Crayford from 1965 to 1983. He was elected as a member of the Labour Party, but defected to the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

after its formation in 1981.

Early life and career

Wellbeloved was born in

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

in 1926. He was a

boy seaman A boy seaman (plural boy seamen) is a boy (male minor) who serves as seaman or is trained for such service. Royal Navy In the British naval forces, where there was a need to recruit enough hands to man the vast fleet of the British Empire, ext ...

in the

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during World War II. After the war, he attended South London Technical College, and worked in the building and appliance industries, becoming active as a union officer. He married Mavis Ratcliff in 1948, and they had three children. Wellbeloved served as a councillor on Erith Borough Council from 1956, and was the first leader of the

London Borough of Bexley The London Borough of Bexley () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London, forming part of Outer London. It has a population of 248,287. The main settlements are Sidcup, Erith, Bexleyheath, Crayford, Welling and Old Bexley. The ...

from 1964.

Member of Parliament

He was elected Labour Party

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 ...

(MP) for Erith and Crayford at a 1965

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

following the death of

Norman Dodds Norman Noel Dodds (25 December 1903 – 22 August 1965) was a British co-operator and Labour Co-operative politician. The Labour Party campaign centre and headquarters building in Northumberland Heath is named "Norman Dodds House" in honour of ...

, whose constituency chairman he had been. In 1970, there was a discussion in the House of Commons as to whether to continue the practice of the

rum ration The rum ration (also called the tot) was a daily amount of rum given to sailors on Royal Navy ships. It was abolished in 1970 after concerns that the intake of strong alcohol would lead to unsteady hands when working machinery. Tradition The ...

, now known as the "Great Rum Debate". Wellbeloved argued in favor of continuing the practice. Wellbeloved served successively as

parliamentary private secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

(PPS) to Defence Minister Gerry Reynolds and Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart, and was under-secretary of state for the Air Force in the

Callaghan government Callaghan most commonly refers to O'Callaghan, an Anglicized Irish surname. Callaghan may also refer to: Places * Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia * Callaghan, Edmonton, Canada * Callaghan, Virginia, United States * Callaghan, Texas, United ...

. In 1981, Wellbeloved was among the Labour MPs who defected to the

. At the 1983 general election, he lost his seat by just 920 votes to the

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 i ...

David Evennett Sir David Anthony Evennett (born 3 June 1949, Romford) is a Conservative politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bexleyheath and Crayford at the 2005 general election. Previously he was the MP for Erith and Crayford betwee ...

. He later rejoined the Labour Party. Wellbeloved was known for his brusque, uncompromising personality, leading some colleagues to remark upon his surname with irony.

Later life

After leaving parliament, Wellbeloved served on the boards of

organ donation Organ donation is the process when a person allows an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive or dead with the assent of the next of kin. Donation may be for re ...

groups. He died in

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Char ...

on 10 September 2012, at the age of 86.

References

Sources

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1966 & 1983 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wellbeloved, James 1926 births 2012 deaths Councillors in the London Borough of Bexley Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Erith Social Democratic Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Royal Navy personnel of World War II UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983