John Ernest Silkin (18 March 1923 – 26 April 1987) was a British left-wing Labour politician and solicitor.

Early life

He was the third son of Lewis Silkin, 1st Baron Silkin, and a younger brother of Samuel Silkin, Baron Silkin of Dulwich. He was educated at Dulwich College, the

University of Wales , latin_name = , image = , caption = Coat of Arms , motto = cy, Goreu Awen Gwirionedd , mottoeng = The Best Inspiration is Truth , established = , , type = Confederal, non-member ...

and Trinity Hall,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. Silkin served in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

from 1942 to 1946. He was commissioned as a

sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second hig ...

in 1943, serving in the East Indies Fleet, Eastern Fleet and Pacific Fleet aboard and , and ashore at Anderson, Ceylon (

FECB The Far East Combined Bureau, an outstation of the British Government Code and Cypher School, was set up in Hong Kong in March 1935, to monitor Japanese, and also Chinese and Russian (Soviet) intelligence and radio traffic. Later it moved to Sing ...

). He was later promoted lieutenant. He was demobilised in 1946 and returned to Cambridge. Silkin was admitted as a solicitor in 1950 and worked for his father's law practice in London.

Parliamentary career

He contested the seat of

St Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it merge ...

for the Labour Party at the 1950 general election, West Woolwich in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and South Nottingham in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

. He served as a councillor in the

Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone The Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone was a metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. It was based directly on the previously existing civil parish of St Marylebone, which was incorporated into the Metropolitan Board ...

(1962–63) and was elected to 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. T ...

for the first time in July 1963. He served as the Labour Member of Parliament for

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

(1963–74) and for

Lewisham, Deptford Lewisham Deptford is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Vicky Foxcroft of the Labour Party. History This seat was created in 1974. It has remained largely urban in its consti ...

(1974–87). He was appointed to the

Privy Council 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 mo ...

in 1966. He served as a Government Chief Whip (1966–69) and as the deputy leader of the House of Commons (1968–69). He was appointed as the Minister of Public Buildings and Works (1969–70) and the

Minister for Planning and Local Government Minister for Planning and Local Government may refer to: * Minister for Planning (Victoria), formerly known as the Minister for Planning and Local Government * Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing The Minister of State for Housing an ...

in the Department for the Environment (1974–76). He served as the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1976–79). In opposition, Silkin was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1980 Labour leadership election following the resignation of

James 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 ...

and in the deputy leadership election in 1981. He served as Opposition Spokesman on Industry (1979–80),

Shadow Leader of the House of Commons The Shadow Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for working with the Leader of the House in arranging Commons business and holding the Government to account in its overall management ...

(1980–83), Shadow Defence Secretary (1981–83) and the Dairy Industry Arbitrator (1986–87). Silkin's publication, ''Changing Battlefields: The Challenge to the Labour Party'' appeared posthumously. His papers were given to the

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...

by his widow in February 1990. These cover his Parliamentary and Ministerial career, as well as his other public interests, such as the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover ...

, the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lis ...

and the dairy industry. There is material of particular interest concerning his relationship with his Constituency Labour Party in

and on the Labour Party Leadership and Deputy Leadership Elections in 1980 and 1981.

Family

He was married to the actress

Rosamund John Rosamund John (19 October 1913 – 27 October 1998), born Nora Rosamund Jones, was an English film and stage actress. Early life She was born and brought up in Tottenham in North London, the daughter of Frederick Henry Jones, a wine merchant' ...

from 1950 until his death in 1987. Their son Rory L. F. Silkin was born in 1954. Rory has a daughter called Natasha Silkin, who also works in politics for Hanover Communications.

External links

*
The Papers of John Ernest Silkin
held at

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Silkin, John 1923 births 1987 deaths Agriculture ministers of the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of Wales Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge European democratic socialists English Jews English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of St Marylebone Metropolitan Borough Council People educated at Dulwich College Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Navy officers of World War II Treasurers of the Household UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Younger sons of barons Jewish British politicians Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970