Wilfrid Andrew Burke (23 November 1889 – 18 July 1968) was a British Trade union organiser and politician who achieved high office in the Labour Party and served as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

for 24 years. He was briefly in the

Attlee government Clement Attlee was invited by King George VI to form the Attlee ministry in the United Kingdom in July 1945, succeeding Winston Churchill as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Labour Party had won a landslide victory at the 1945 gener ...

Assistant Postmaster-General The Assistant Postmaster General is a defunct junior ministerial position in the United Kingdom Government. The title of Postmaster General was abolished under the Post Office Act 1969. A new public authority governed by a chairman was established ...

. After leaving the government he concentrated on party work, fighting

Bevanites Bevanism was a movement on the Left wing politics, left wing of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party in the late 1950s led by Aneurin Bevan which also included Richard Crossman, Michael Foot and Barbara Castle. Bevanism was opposed by the Gaitske ...

and serving as Chairman of the

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 ...

Early life

Burke was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

,"Mr Wilfred Burke" (obituary), ''The Times'', 20 July 1968, p. 10. and went to

Oulton College Oulton College is a Canadian private college situated in Moncton, New Brunswick. The college offers programs in four faculties: Business, Health Science, Human Services and Information Technology. History Foundation and early years Gordon A. Oul ...

in the city.M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981), p. 50. Burke then trained as a teacher and worked as such for several years, before going into commerce in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 1918. At the same time he joined the National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers, which later became the

Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is a trade union in the United Kingdom, consisting of around 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse wo ...

Manchester politics

In 1920, Burke became Manchester area organiser for the union. His branch was a large one and Burke obtained its strong support, which saw him elected to the executive council of the Labour Party in Manchester; there he was helped by his work in his spare time campaigning for the party. At the 1924 general election, Burke was the Labour candidate for

Manchester Blackley Manchester, Blackley was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. In boundary changes for the ...

; the seat was held by

Philip Oliver Philip Oliver is the name of: * Philip Oliver (British politician) (1884–1954), British politician * Philip Oliver (cricketer) (born 1956), English cricketer * Philip Oliver (Irish politician) (c. 1720–1768), MP for Kilmallock * Philip Oliver, ...

for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. Burke ended up coming narrowly third as Oliver lost the seat to the

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 ...

."The Times House of Commons 1929", p. 49. Burke was thought to have polled well."Manchester Group", ''The Times'', 15 May 1929, p. 8. Burke was readopted as Labour candidate for the seat in March 1925."Mr. Baldwin's Appeal", ''The Times'', 9 March 1925, p. 9. Before the 1929 general election came, he had fought several municipal elections. The contest was assessed by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' as turning on the extent to which Labour encroached on the Liberal vote. Despite his campaigning experience Burke remained in third place, and Oliver regained his seat by 888 votes. Burke stood again in the 1931 general election, but was heavily defeated."The Times House of Commons 1931", p. 47.

Member of Parliament for Burnley

In October 1932, Burke was adopted as Labour Party candidate for

, a constituency which had up until 1931 by party leader

Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of th ...

."Labour Parliamentary Candidates", ''The Times'', 1 November 1932, p. 8. The sitting member who had beaten Henderson was Vice-Admiral

Gordon Campbell Gordon Muir Campbell, (born January 12, 1948) is a retired Canadian diplomat and politician who was the 35th mayor of Vancouver from 1986 to 1993 and the 34th premier of British Columbia from 2001 to 2011. He was the leader of the British Co ...

VC, a

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 ...

hero elected as a 'National' candidate and not a Conservative; Campbell decided to stand as a Liberal National but was still reckoned to have a difficult fight."In The Constituencies", ''The Times'', 6 November 1935, p. 9. After a tough fight Burke won by 4,195 votes."The Times House of Commons 1935", p. 54.

Textile industry

Burnley was based on the textile industry and Burke concentrated on this subject when he arrived in Parliament. He was appointed to the Standing Committee considering the Cotton Spinning Industry Bill in 1936. He referred to the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

saying "clogs to clogs in three generations", and asked for the appointments to the advisory committee under the Act to include textile workers rather than factory owners."Cotton Industry Bill", ''The Times'', 6 March 1936, p. 8. He spoke in an all-night debate on unemployment assistance regulations in July 1936, blaming increased unemployment in Burnley on the National government's destroying the market for textiles in India.Hansard
House of Commons, 5th series, vol. 315 col. 750. In November 1936, referring to a speech by Sir

Arnold Wilson Sir Arnold Talbot Wilson (18 July 1884 – 31 May 1940) was a British soldier, colonial administrator, Conservative politician, writer and editor. Wilson served under Percy Cox, the colonial administrator of Mesopotamia (Mandatory Iraq) ...

praising Germany, Burke expressed his disappointment and dismay at "growing appreciation of the totalitarian state" by Conservative MPs.Hansard
House of Commons, 5th series, vol. 317 col. 170. He launched a debate on location of industry later that month, calling for new industries to be diverted from London to areas of high unemployment.Hansard
House of Commons, 5th series, vol. 317, col. 1797. Burke regularly called for moves to preserve steady trade with overseas markets for Lancashire textiles, as when he argued in March 1939 in support of a Government Bill to create a fund to stabilise the exchange rate between Britain and China during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

;Hansard
House of Commons, 5th series, vol. 345, col. 1061. other Labour MPs had moved the rejection of the Bill."House of Commons", ''The Times'', 21 March 1939, p. 9.

Labour whip

Burke played an active part in a joint committee of Cotton Trade organisations which was set up in advance of legislation to reorganise the industry in the late 1930s. When the proposals gathered the support of two-thirds of the industry, Burke told a luncheon in January 1939 that they should confidently expect Government action."Support For Cotton Industry Bill", ''The Times'', 28 January 1939, p. 7. He spoke in favour of the Bill when it was introduced in March.Hansard
House of Commons, 5th series, vol. 345 cols. 1765-8. Burke was appointed as a

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

for the Labour Party in 1941; however he voted against the Government's proposal to delay the implementation of the

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

in February 1943,"Beveridge Plan Division", ''The Times'', 20 February 1943, p. 2. and was replaced in October of that year."Commons And Indian Famine", ''The Times'', 29 October 1943, p. 2.

Labour Party National Executive

At the Labour Party conference in June 1943 Burke moved a resolution on behalf of his union, calling for an adequate rate of the old age pension. The resolution was carried."Labour Views on Social Plan", ''The Times'', 16 June 1943, p. 8. He was a member of the executive of the newly formed Anglo-French Inter-Parliamentary Committee in October 1944,"British M.P.s and the French", ''The Times'', 11 October 1944, p. 4. and having been sponsored by the shopworkers' union to be a member of the

of the Labour Party from 1944, in August 1945 he was one of three fraternal delegates representing the Labour Party at the conference of the French

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

."Labour Delegates Abroad", ''The Times'', 3 August 1945, p. 2. He was a member of many more international delegations during his time on the National Executive.

Assistant Postmaster-General

Burke had an easy re-election at the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgaria ...

, his result being one of the first to be announced.

R. B. McCallum Ronald Buchanan McCallum (28 August 1898 in Paisley, Renfrewshire – 18 May 1973 in Letcombe Regis, Berkshire) was a British historian. He was a fellow (and later Master) of Pembroke College, Oxford, where he taught modern history and politics a ...

and Alison Readman, ''The British General Election of 1945'', Frank Cass & Co., 1964, p. 244. On 10 August he was appointed by new Prime Minister

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...

,"More Ministerial Appointments", ''The Times'', 11 August 1945, p. 2. being the spokesman for his department in 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. ...

as the Postmaster-General was the Earl of Listowel."Spokesmen in Commons", ''The Times'', 11 August 1945, p. 2. In office, Burke's main job was to return the

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

and the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

(including the telephone system) to its pre-war function of serving civilian life, including reintroducing some services closed to aid the war effort. In March 1946 Burke and Listowel were able to announce the opening of several schemes to improve the service."Improved Postal Service", ''The Times'', 13 March 1946, p. 4. Pressure was put on Burke by the

Union of Post Office Workers The Union of Communication Workers (UCW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom for workers in the post office and telecommunications industries. History The union was founded in 1919 as the Union of Post Office Workers (UPW) by the merger ...

and the

Post Office Engineering Union The Post Office Engineering Union (POEU) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It represented engineering staff in the Post Office, mostly working in telecommunications. History The union was founded in 1915 when the Post Office Enginee ...

to include Cable & Wireless in the Government's programme of

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

,"Future of Cable Service", ''The Times'', 13 December 1945, p. 2. pressure which was ultimately successful. The department expanded in spring 1946 when the Ministry of Information was abolished,"Parliament", ''The Times'', 8 March 1946, p. 6. and Burke announced the commencement of

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

radio broadcasts in Russian."British Broadcasts in Russian", ''The Times'', 19 March 1946, p. 4. Despite progress made, Burke was unable to allow the resumption of the special 'Greetings

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

' service in November 1946."Parliament", ''The Times'', 16 November 1946, p. 2. The Post Office made a substantial profit of £36,191,000 in 1945–46, leading to a move by opposition MPs to lower charges."Postal Charges", ''The Times'', 6 February 1947, p. 2. Burke was caught up in a minor diplomatic spat in April 1947 over BBC speeches by

Henry A. Wallace Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was an American politician, journalist, farmer, and businessman who served as the 33rd vice president of the United States, the 11th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and the 10th U.S. S ...

criticising the United States Government; he insisted that the British Government did not intervene over the subject of talks, and received the support of his own side."House of Commons", ''The Times'', 24 April 1947, p. 8. Burke left office in October 1947."New Members of Cabinet", ''The Times', 8 October 1947, p. 4.

Dissenting votes

Out of office Burke retained his membership of the National Executive Committee, but began to dissent from some of the Government's legislation. In December 1948 he opposed the Licensing Bill, along with two other Labour MPs;"Licensing Bill Voting", ''The Times'', 16 December 1948, p. 6. and he supported a Liberal Party motion for a Royal Commission into war pensions in April 1949. P. Norton, "Dissension in the House of Commons 1945–1974", Macmillan, 1975, p. 72. At the 1950 general election, in addition to a Conservative Party candidate (their first in the division since 1929), he also faced nominees from the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

and 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 ...

. Burke won re-election by 7,049 votes."The Times House of Commons 1950", p. 97.

Bevanism

Burke topped the poll in the trade union section ballot for the Labour Party National Executive in October 1950."Labour Party Conference", ''The Times'', 4 October 1950, p. 3. When the

Bevanite Bevanism was a movement on the left wing of the Labour Party in the late 1950s led by Aneurin Bevan which also included Richard Crossman, Michael Foot and Barbara Castle. Bevanism was opposed by the Gaitskellites, moderate social democrats with ...

faction in the Labour Party issued a pamphlet in September 1951, it attacked Burke for supporting

Hugh Gaitskell Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell (9 April 1906 – 18 January 1963) was a British politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955 until his death in 1963. An economics lecturer and wartime civil servant, h ...

's budget in the National Executive despite the fact that his union had put forward a motion at the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

criticising it."Bevanites' New Pamphlet", ''The Times'', 21 September 1951, p. 3. Burke was said to have hit back vigorously at the anonymous author of the pamphlet for disclosing confidential information and for misunderstanding the position of Trade Union members of the National Executive."Reply To 'Going Our Way'", ''The Times'', 8 November 1951, p. 4. When the shopworkers' union met at their 1952 conference, Burke was absent through illness; the Bevanites' position was backed by delegates."Support For Mr. Bevan", ''The Times'', 14 April 1952, p. 6. However the union continued to nominate him and he was re-elected to the National Executive in October of that year at the top of the poll."Labour Conference", ''The Times'', 1 October 1952, p. 4.

National Executive chairman

Playing a decreasing role in Parliament, Burke became chairman of the Labour Party National Executive sub-committee on Commonwealth and Imperial affairs in November 1952."Future Policy of Labour Party", ''The Times'', 27 November 1952, p. 3. He served as Vice-Chairman of the National Executive in 1952–53, and was then elected as chairman at the end of September 1953."Labour Vote Against More Nationalization", ''The Times'', 1 October 1953, p. 6. Burke gave a

Party Political Broadcast A party political broadcast (also known, in pre-election campaigning periods, as a party election broadcast) is a television or radio broadcast made by a political party. In the United Kingdom the Communications Act 2003 prohibits (and previou ...

at the end of January 1954 calling for large firms to plough profits back into the company and get away from the "'grab all you can' atmosphere"."Improving Relations in Industry", ''The Times'', 1 February 1954, p. 2. As a fraternal delegate to the

Co-operative Party The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, supporting co-operative values and principles. Established in 1917, the Co-operative Party was founded by co-operative societies to campaign politically for the fair ...

conference, he made a speech which was interpreted as a criticism 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 ...

."Means of Mass Destruction", ''The Times'', 17 April 1954, p. 3. Burke also had twice to inquire into the affairs of the Liverpool Exchange

Constituency Labour Party __NOTOC__ A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituenc ...

, which was feuding with its forceful Member of Parliament

Bessie Braddock Elizabeth Margaret Braddock (née Bamber; 24 September 1899 – 13 November 1970) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Liverpool Exchange division from 1945 to 1970. She was a ...

."Inquiry into Rejection of Mrs. Braddock", ''The Times'', 21 April 1955, p. 8.

Retirement

Burke retired from the National Executive in 1956, and announced his decision to stand down from his Parliamentary seat at the next election. In December 1958 he presented a petition from

along with 16 Mayors of Lancashire towns, calling for more Government help for the cotton trade. The Burnley petition claimed there was great despondency in the town."M.P.s Present Lancashire Petitions", ''The Times'', 12 December 1958, p. 6. Burke left Parliament at the 1959 election, and died nine years later.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Wilfrid 1889 births 1968 deaths British trade unionists GMB (trade union)-sponsored MPs Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 Politicians from Liverpool Politics of Burnley Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers-sponsored MPs Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951