Hugh Gaitskell

HUGH GAITSKELL d1963. British politician who served as Leader of the British Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955 until his death in 1963. An economics lecturer and wartime civil servant, he was elected to Parliament in 1945 and held office in Clement Attlee's governments, notably as Minister of Fuel and Power after the bitter winter of 1946–47 and eventually joining the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Exchequer. With Labour in opposition from 1951, he won bitter leadership battles with Bevan and his supporters to become the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition in 1955. In 1956 he opposed the Eden government's use of military force at Suez. Against a backdrop of a booming economy he led Labour to its third successive defeat at the 1959 general election. He died suddenly on January 18th 1963 aged 56, when he appeared to be on the verge of leading Labour back into power and becoming the next Prime Minister