Aneurin Nye Bevan

ANEURIN NYE BEVAN d1960. Welsh Labour party politician who was the Minister for Health in the UK from 1945 to 1951. The son of a coal miner, he was a lifelong champion of social justice, the rights of working people and democtratic socialism. He left school at 13 and worked as a miner during his teens where he soon became involved in local union politics, being named head of his Miner's Lodge at 19 years of age. He joined the Labour Party and was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP), for Ebbw Vale in South Wales, a position he held for 31 years. He was one of the chief spokesmen for the Labour Party's left wing and of left-wing British thought generally. He rose to national prominence during the Second World War due to his criticism of the Tory prime ministers of the time. When Labour came into power following the 1945 UK General Election, he was the surprise choice of Clement Attlee to become the Minister of Health, becoming the youngest member of the cabinet at 47. His most famous accomplishment came when he spearheaded the establishment of the National Health Service which was to provide medical care free at point-of-need to all Britons, regardless of wealth. He was appointed as Minister of Labour in 1951 but resigned soon after when the Attlee government decided to transfer funds from the NIF to pay for rearmament. He later returned to the party to serve as Shadow Foreign Secretary and Deputy Party Leader over the rest of his career before his death from cancer on July 6th 1960 at the age of 62. The left-wing group within the party became known as "Bevanite" butt he did not control it. He has emerged as one of Wales' most revered politicians. In 2004, over forty four years after his death, he was voted 1st in a list of 100 Welsh Heroes having been credited for his contribution to the founding of the NHS.