Robert Michael Maitland Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham, (6 November 1906 – 10 March 1990) was a British Labour Party politician,

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

and Fabian Socialist who was a Member of Parliament for 34 years, and served twice as Foreign Secretary in the first cabinet of

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

Early life

The son of Robert Wallace Stewart, author and lecturer, and Eva Stewart née Blaxley, Robert Michael Maitland Stewart was born in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

. He was educated at Brownhill Road Elementary School,

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivi ...

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

and St. John's College, Oxford, where he graduated with a first class BA in

Philosophy, Politics and Economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

in 1929. Whilst at Oxford he was involved in student politics and was elected as President of the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest unive ...

for

Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in many Western Christian liturgical calendars on 29 Se ...

Term 1929. He was also the president of St John's Labour Club that same year. Stewart began his career as an official in the Royal Household during 1931. He worked for a short period with the Secretariat of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

, before becoming a schoolmaster, first at the Merchant Taylors' School in London, then at Coopers' Company's School,

Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...

, and then at Frome,

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Stewart served in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, joining the Intelligence Corps in 1942, before transferring to the Army Educational Corps in 1943. He was promoted to captain in 1944. On 26 July 1941 he married Mary Birkinshaw, later Baroness Stewart of Alvechurch; they had no children. They were one of the few couples who both held titles in their own right.

Political career

Stewart had contested the Lewisham West constituency in 1931 and 1935, and Fulham East in 1936; after the war he became MP for Fulham East 1945–55, then for Fulham 1955–74, and Hammersmith, Fulham 1974–79. Soon after his initial election, he was made one of the

Lords Commissioners of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a Government agency, commission for the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer, Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the ...

(more commonly known as a junior whip), then a junior minister, as Under-Secretary of State for War (1947–51) and later as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply (May–October 1951). Following Labour's defeat in the 1951 election, Stewart was a rising figure on the shadow front bench, serving as Shadow Minister of Education (1955–59) and then as Shadow Minister of Housing and Local Government (1959–64). On May 21, 1952 during the British Malayan headhunting scandal, Stewart asked Henry Hopkinson in the House of Commons if the government intended to punish British soldiers caught posing with decapitated human heads in images taken during the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War, was a guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war fought in Federation of Malaya, Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Arm ...

and leaked by the '' Daily Worker.'' Hopkinson confirmed to Stewart that none of the British soldiers would be punished, claiming that said soldiers had never explicitly been forbidden from mutilating corpses. Stewart was Fabian Summer School director in 1952 and lecturer in 1954. He was Fabian New Year School lecturer in 1954–55 and publicist in 1956. He is listed as a member of the Fabian Society International Bureau Committee during 1957–58 and was mentioned in ''Fabian News'' November – December 1964 as a former member of the Fabian Executive Committee.

Government 1964–70

When

became Prime Minister in 1964, Stewart was appointed

Secretary of State for Education and Science The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...

. He was promoted to

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs may refer to: * Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Spain) *Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK) The secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs, also known as the fore ...

in January 1965 after his predecessor

Patrick Gordon Walker Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker, Baron Gordon-Walker, (7 April 1907 – 2 December 1980) was a British Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament for nearly 30 years and twice a cabinet minister. He lost his Smethwick parliamenta ...

's bid to regain a

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

seat in the 1965 Leyton by-election failed. He was described by the press as relatively unknown to the public but was extremely well known within Fabian socialist circles. He became

Secretary of State for Economic Affairs The Secretary of State for Economic Affairs was briefly an office of Her Majesty's government in the United Kingdom. It was established by Harold Wilson in October 1964. Wilson had been impressed by the six-week experiment of a Minister for Econo ...

in 1966. From 1966 to 1968, he was

First Secretary of State First Secretary of State is an office that is sometimes held by a minister of the Crown Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term ...

. He returned to the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

from 1968 to 1970. As foreign secretary, he was instrumental in supplying arms to support the Nigerian military dictatorship's crushing of the secessionist Republic of Biafra in the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...

(when up to one million people died), later saying "It would have been quite easy for me to say: This is going to be difficult – let's cut off all connexion with the Nigerian Government. If I'd done that I should have known that I was encouraging in Africa the principle of tribal secession – with all the misery that could bring to Africa in the future."

Post-Government

A committed

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...

, Stewart was leader of the Labour Delegation to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

in June 1970, and joint president of the Labour Committee for Europe with

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * Ge ...

and

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician and writer who served as the sixth President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliamen ...

. He served as a

member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

from 1975 to 1976. Stewart was a supporter of a

United Ireland United Ireland (), also referred to as Irish reunification or a ''New Ireland'', is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically: the sovereign state of Ireland (legally ...

, supporting a peaceful resolution to the

partition of Ireland The Partition of Ireland () was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK) divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland (the area today known as the R ...

. Stewart was made a member of the Privy Council in 1964. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 1969 New Year Honours. He retired from the House of Commons in 1979. He was elevated to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, being created a

with the title Baron Stewart of Fulham, of

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, on 5 July 1979. Brian Harrison recorded an oral history interview with Stewart, in March 1978, as part of the Suffrage Interviews project, titled ''Oral evidence on the suffragette and suffragist movements: the Brian Harrison interviews.'' Stewart discusses his teaching career and his connection with the Association for Education in Citizenship. He died at a hospital in London on 10 March 1990, at the age of 83.

References

Bibliography

*''The Forty Hour Week'' (Fabian Society), (1936) *''Bias and Education for Democracy'' (1937) *''The British Approach to Politics'' (1938) *
Policy and weapons in the nuclear age
' (1955) *''Modern Forms of Government'' (1959) *
An incomes policy for Labour
' (1963) *''Fabian Freeway'' Rose L. Martin (1966) *
Labour and the economy : a socialist strategy
' (1972) *''Life and Labour'' (1980) – his autobiography *''European Security: the case against unilateral nuclear disarmament'' (1981)

External links

*
The Papers of Lord Stewart of Fulham and Baroness Stewart of Alvechurch
held at Churchill Archives Centre {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart of Fulham, Michael Stewart, Baron 1906 births 1990 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II British Secretaries of State for Education British Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs British Secretaries of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs First secretaries of state of the United Kingdom Intelligence Corps officers Labour Party (UK) MEPs Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Stewart of Fulham, Michael Stewart, Baron Life peers created by Elizabeth II MEPs for the United Kingdom 1973–1979 Members of the Fabian Society Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Military personnel from the London Borough of Bromley Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951 Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 National Union of Teachers-sponsored MPs People educated at Christ's Hospital People from Bromley Presidents of the Oxford Union Royal Army Educational Corps officers Schoolteachers from London Schoolteachers from Somerset Spouses of life peers 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 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979