James (Jeremiah) Griffiths (19 September 1890 – 7 August 1975) was a

Welsh Labour Party Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 192 ...

politician, trade union leader and the first

Secretary of State for Wales The secretary of state for Wales ( cy, ysgrifennydd gwladol Cymru), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member ...

Background and education

He was born in the predominantly

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 ...

-speaking village of Betws, near

Ammanford Ammanford ( cy, Rhydaman) is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, with a population of 5,411 at the 2011 census. It is a former coal mining town. The built-up area had a population of 7,945 with the wider urban area even bigger. Acco ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

. The youngest of ten children; his father, William Griffiths was the local blacksmith. He spoke no English until he was five. Educated at Betws Board School, he left at the age of 13 to work at Ammanford No. 1 colliery (Gwaith Isa'r Betws), where he eventually became Lodge Secretary. Griffiths was a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

and while campaigning against the

Great 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 ...

met Winifred Rutley, whom he married in 1918. His brother (

David Rees Griffiths David Rees Griffiths (6 November 1882 – 17 December 1953), also known by his bardic name of Amanwy, was a Welsh poet, and an older brother of politician Jim Griffiths. Griffiths was born in Betws, Carmarthenshire, where his father was a bla ...

, 1882–1953) was a Welsh poet who took the bardic name of 'Amanwy' after his native valley.

Political career

Griffiths continued his education by attending night school and became an active socialist. He helped establish a branch of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

in 1908 and soon became its secretary. Later, he occupied the powerful post of secretary of the newly formed Ammanford Trades Council (1916–1919). At the age of 29, he left the colliery on a miner's scholarship (1919–1921) to the

Central Labour College The Central Labour College, also known as The Labour College, was a British higher education institution supported by trade unions. It functioned from 1909 to 1929. It was established on the basis of independent working class education. The colle ...

, London, where at the same time Aneurin Bevan and

Morgan Phillips Morgan Walter Phillips (18 June 1902 – 15 January 1963) was a colliery worker and trade union activist who became the General Secretary of the British Labour Party, involved in two of the party's election victories. Life Born in Aberdare, ...

were studying. On returning home, Griffiths worked as

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

Labour Party agent (1922–1925), before becoming an agent for the Anthracite Miners' Association (1925–1936), and President of the powerful

South Wales Miners' Federation The South Wales Miners' Federation (SWMF), nicknamed "The Fed", was a trade union for coal miners in South Wales. It survives as the South Wales Area of the National Union of Mineworkers. Forerunners The Amalgamated Association of Miners (AA ...

– known locally as the Fed – in the

Anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...

district of West Wales (1934–1936). In 1936, he was elected Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for what was then safe seat of Llanelli. Three years later, he continued his rise through the Labour movement by getting elected to the party's

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

. In 1942, he led 97 Labour MP's to vote against the Labour Party's compromise with

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

for the government to neither endorse nor condemn the

Beveridge Report The Beveridge Report, officially entitled ''Social Insurance and Allied Services'' (Command paper, Cmd. 6404), is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It was draft ...

recommending the establishment of a comprehensive

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...

postwar Britain In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

. Despite the defiance of the party leadership, the vote boosted Labour's popularity by demonstrating its support for the report's recommendations. Following Labour's victory at the 1945 general election, he was made a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

and Minister for National Insurance by Prime Minister Clement Attlee. In this role, he was responsible for creating the modern state benefit system. He introduced the

Family Allowances Act 1945 The Family Allowances Act 1945 (8 & 9 Geo. VI c. 41) was a British Act of Parliament and was the first law to provide child benefit in the United Kingdom. It was enacted on 15 June 1945 when the caretaker Conservative government was in office u ...

, the

National Insurance Act 1946 The National Insurance Act 1946 (c 67) was a British Act of Parliament passed during the Attlee ministry which established a comprehensive system of social security throughout the United Kingdom. The act meant that all who were of working age we ...

and the National Assistance and Industrial Injuries Act 1948. Along with Bevan, he was one of the chief architects of the British welfare state. He served as Chairman of the Labour Party (1948–1949), and in 1950 he became

Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, British Cabinet government minister, minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various British Empire, colonial dependencies. Histor ...

. Within two years, though, the Labour Party was out of office. During the long period in opposition, Griffiths became Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (1955–1959), and spokesman on Welsh affairs. He used his good relationship with Hugh Gaitskell to commit the Labour Party to a measure of

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

. Amid the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

of 1956, he made an important speech opposing the underhanded tactics of the then Prime Minister Anthony Eden in which he stated: "This is for our country a black and tragic week... an unjustifiable and wicked war". This was said to sum up the mood of many at the time. Given Griffiths' determination in having campaigned for a

ever since the 1930s,

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 ...

persuaded him to delay retirement and serve as the first Secretary of State for Wales following Labour's 1964 general election victory. At Wilson's instigation, Griffiths established the

Welsh Office The Welsh Office ( cy, Swyddfa Gymreig) was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State f ...

and laid the foundations for the role until the 1966 general election, whereupon he returned to the backbenches. He was appointed a Companion of Honour. Though by now suffering from ill-health, Griffiths avoided resigning 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. ...

, because he feared that if he did so, Labour would lose a by-election in Llanelli.

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

had captured the neighbouring seat of

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

in 1966; and the Llanelli Rugby coach

Carwyn James Carwyn Rees James (2 November 1929 – 10 January 1983) was a Welsh rugby union player and coach. He won two Welsh international caps but is most famous for his coaching achievements with Llanelli, the 1971 British Lions and the Barbarians, with ...

was poised to stand for Plaid Cymru in a by-election, had Griffiths stood down. He remained in Parliament until 1970 and was succeeded in Llanelli by

Denzil Davies David John Denzil Davies (9 October 1938 – 10 October 2018) was a Welsh Labour Party politician. He served for 35 years as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Llanelli from 1970 to 2005, and was a member of the Privy Council. Early life Dav ...

, who fended off the Plaid Cymru challenge. The previous year, Griffiths had published his autobiography, ''Pages From Memory'' (London: Dent, 1969).

Personal life

He died in

Teddington Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long me ...

, Greater London, aged 84, leaving two sons and two daughters. He is buried at the Christian Temple chapel in Ammanford. In a memorial address,

Jim 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 ...

, prime minister (1976–79), described him as "one of the greatest sons of Wales. We honour the memory of Jim Griffiths of Ammanford. I mention his birth place because, despite all his honours and journeyings, it was the place of his birth, deep in the heart of Wales, that essentially shaped his life and actions."

Bibliography

* ''Plan for Britain: A Collection of Essays prepared for the Fabian Society'' by G D H Cole, Aneurin Bevan, Jim Griffiths, L F Easterbrook, Sir William Beveridge, and Harold J Laski (Not illustrated with 127 text pages).Detail taken from ''Plan for Britain'' published by George Routledge with a date of 1943 and no ISBN *Griffiths, James. ''Pages from Memory.'' London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1969. * Griffiths, Winifred. ''One Woman's Story'' (privately printed, 1979)

References

External links

Election leaflet held by the national Library of Wales

Selection of his writings
*
Biography of James (Jeremiah) Griffiths (1890 - 1975), Labour politician and cabinet minister. Y Bywgraffiadur Cymreig (Dictionary of Welsh Biography).James Griffiths Papers
in the National Library of Wales {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Jim 1890 births 1975 deaths People from Carmarthenshire Welsh Labour Party MPs British Secretaries of State Secretaries of State for the Colonies Secretaries of State for Wales Members of the Fabian Society Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Miners' Federation of Great Britain-sponsored MPs National Union of Mineworkers-sponsored MPs UK MPs 1935–1945 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 Welsh socialists Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Carmarthenshire constituencies Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951 Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970