Stephen Thomas Swingler, PC (2 March 1915 – 19 February 1969) was a British Labour Party politician who was a

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) from 1945 to 1950, and from 1951 to his death.

Early life

Swingler was the son of Rev. H. Swingler, and was educated at

Stowe Stowe may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village **Stowe House **Stowe School * Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish * Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire * Stowe, Linc ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, where he took a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (1936). Before entering politics he was a lecturer in adult education for the

Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

. He served as a Captain in the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the A ...

from 1941 to 1945. Under the name 'Thomas Stevens', he wrote books including ''Outline of Political Thought since the French Revolution'' (1939) and ''Army Education'' (1941).

Political career

In the Labour landslide at the 1945 general election, he was elected as MP for the previously

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 ...

-held seat of

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

. When the constituency was abolished at the 1950 general election, he contested the new Stafford and Stone seat, but was defeated by Hugh Fraser. Following his defeat, he wrote for the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' and ''

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...

''. He shortly thereafter returned to parliament: in the 1951 general election, he was elected MP for

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...

, and held the seat until his death. Swingler was considered to be on the left of the party; he was the inaugural chair of a left-wing group called Victory for Socialism at its formation in 1958, and closely associated with it until its dissolution in 1964. In

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 1964–1970 government, Swingler was Parliamentary Secretary to the

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...

from 1964 to 1967. He was then promoted to

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

at the same department until November 1968, when he was moved to the new

Department of Health and Social Security The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services. His ...

to become Minister of State for Social Services, and appointed as a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

John Bodkin Adams case

Swingler played a minor but interesting part in the

John Bodkin Adams John Bodkin Adams (21 January 18994 July 1983) was an Irish-born British general practitioner, convicted fraudster, and suspected serial killer. Between 1946 and 1956, 163 of his patients died while in comas, which was deemed to be worthy of i ...

affair. On 8 November 1956, the 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 ...

handed the

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

report into Adams' activities to Dr McRae, Secretary of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

(BMA), effectively the doctors' trade union in Britain. The prosecution's most valuable document was then copied and passed to Adams' defence counsel. After a tip-off from a ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' journalist, on 28 November Swingler (in conjunction with MP

Hugh Delargy Hugh James Delargy (26 September 1908 – 4 May 1976) was a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and MP. He was born in Prestwich, Lancashire, of Irish people, Irish parents. Delargy was educated in England, Paris and Rome and worked as ...

) addressed a question to the Attorney-General to be answered in the House of Commons on 3 December regarding Manningham-Buller's recent contacts with the General Medical Council. Manningham-Buller was absent on the day in question but gave a written reply stating he had "had no communications with the General Medical Council within the last six months." He avoided referring to the BMA directly (despite it being named in Delargy's question) and therefore avoided lying, though it could be argued, deliberately misled the House. Adams was eventually acquitted of the murder of

Edith Alice Morrell Edith Alice Morrell (20 June 1869 – 13 November 1950) was a resident of Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, and patient of Dr John Bodkin Adams. Although Adams was acquitted in 1957 of her murder, the question of Adams' role in Morrell's death ex ...

but was suspected by Home Office pathologist

Francis Camps Francis Edward Camps, FRCP, FRCPath (28 June 1905 – 8 July 1972) was an English pathologist notable for his work on the cases of serial killer John Christie and suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams. Early life and training Camps was bo ...

of killing 163 patients.

Personal life

Swingler was married in 1936 to Anne Matthews, daughter of John Matthews, of

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ha ...

, formerly of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. They had four children: Robin, Nicholas, Clare and Oliver. Anne Swingler worked in the

Labour Research Department The Labour Research Department (LRD) is an independent trade union based research organisation, based in London, that provides information to support trade union activity and campaigns. About 2,000 trade union organisations, including 51 national ...

, and later volunteered for Shelter Housing Aid. Swingler had a heart attack on 13 February 1969, and died at a hospital in London six days later, on 19 February, aged 53.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swingler, Stephen 1915 births 1969 deaths 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers Alumni of New College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II British socialists Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Newcastle-under-Lyme Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stafford Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 New Statesman people Place of birth missing Royal Armoured Corps officers UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 People educated at Stowe School