Topic summary
Bevanism
- MP for Ebbw Vale (1929–1960)
- Tribune editor (1940–1945)
Minister of Health (1945–1951)
- National Health Service Act 1946
- NHS launch (5 July 1948)
- Tredegar Medical Aid Society (inspiration)
Minister of Labour (1951)
Opposition roles
- Bevanites (1951–1955)
- 1955 Labour Party leadership election
- Shadow Foreign Secretary (1955–1959)
- Deputy Leader (1959–1960)
Key works & legacy
- In Place of Fear (1952)
- Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
- 100 Welsh Heroes (voted #1)
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 within the party. The Gaitskellites typically won most of the battles inside Parliament, but Bevanism was stronger among local Labour activists. The Bevanites split over the issue of nuclear weapons, and the movement faded away after Bevan died in 1960.