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Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 26 December 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, the Union of Britain's first foreign minister and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of the Labour Party in three different decades. He was popular among his colleagues, who called him "Uncle Arthur" in acknowledgement of his integrity, his devotion to the cause and his imperturbability.

Henderson has often been regarded as a moderating and reformist figure with politics, at times, close to the Liberal Party. The trades unions rejected his emphasis on arbitration and conciliation, leading to a climax in his defeat at the 1930 Labour Leadership election. Henderson's defeat is often regarded as the final deathblow to 'Old Labour' and the establishment of the trade union hegemony. Despite the glum end of his career, Henderson remained a widely popular and respected figure in British politics, with Tom Mann imploring him to remain as Foreign Secretary but he declined. Henderson is perhaps most known for his term as Minister for Foreign Affairs, in which he widely spearheaded Britain's 'return to diplomatic normalcy', crucially secured German and international recognition of the Union of Britain in 1930 and pledged the Union would bind itself to 'upholding the sanctity of peace and co-existence between all men'.

Biography[]

Early Life and Trade Unionism[]

Arthur Henderson was born at 10 Paterson Street, Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland, in 1863, the son of Agnes, a domestic servant, and David Henderson, a textile worker. His father, suffered long periods of unemployment, and so Arthur was forced to leave school at nine years old to find work as an errand boy in a photographer's shop. His father died when Arthur was ten years old and the Henderson's moved to Newcastle upon Tyne in the North-East of England, where Agnes later married Robert Heath.

Henderson worked at Robert Stephenson and Sons' General Foundry Works from the age of twelve. Despite a ten hour day, Arthur attended evening classes in an effort to improve his education. Henderson had been brought up as a staunch Congregationalist, but in 1879 he was converted by the preacher, Rodney Smith, to Methodism. He became a lay preacher and an active member of the Temperance Society.

After finishing his apprenticeship at seventeen, Arthur Henderson moved to Southampton for a year and then returned to work as a iron moulder in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Henderson became an active trade unionist and formed a reading and debating society at the Stephenson Foundry Works. In 1884 Henderson lost his job and was out of work for fourteen months. Henderson used this time to continue his education and to work as a lay preacher.

In 1892, Henderson entered the complex world of trade union politics when he was elected as a paid organiser for the Friendly Society of Iron Founders. He also became a representative on the North East Conciliation Board. strong believer in arbitration and industrial co-operation, he would come to oppose striking whenever possible. Henderson opposed the formation of the General Federation of Trade Unions as he believed it would increase the frequency of industrial disputes.

The LRC and Early Politics[]

In 1900 Henderson would participate as a delegate in the meeting of representatives of all the socialist groups in Britain at the Congregational Memorial Hall in Farringdon Street. Henderson was one of the 129 trade union and socialist delegates who passed Keir Hardie's motion to create the Labour Representation Committee (LRC). In 1903 Henderson was elected treasurer of the LRC but he was opposed by members of the Independent Labour Party who objected to the fact that Henderson was a liberal rather than a socialist. In a by-election later that year, Henderson was elected as MP for Barnard Castle. Three years later Henderson chaired the conference at which the LRC was transformed into the Labour Party. The party's first Chairman was Hardie, but owing to his difficulties dealing with internal rivalries within the party, and in 1908 resigned from the post and Henderson became chairman. Henderson would himself resign the position only two years later due to lacking proper support.

Ramsay MacDonald was expected to become the new leader but two family tragedies caused him to drop out of the race. It was therefore decided that George Barnes should become chairman in his stead, though Barnes considered himself simply 'holding the fort' should MacDonald wish to return. Likewise, Henderson also believed that MacDonald should become chairman. This was not out of any personal admiration or affection for MacDonald - the two men held contrasting temperaments and personalities - but rather Henderson coveted the position of party secretary. Likewise, he believed that MacDonald would be the most able candidate to reconcile relations with the ILP.

The 1910 General Election saw 40 Labour MPs elected to the House of Commons and two months later, in February 1911, George Barnes sent a letter to the Labour Party announcing that he intended to resign as chairman. At the next meeting of MPs, Ramsay MacDonald was elected unopposed to replace Barnes and Henderson now became secretary. According to Philip Snowden, a bargain had been struck at the party conference the previous month, whereby MacDonald was to resign the secretary-ship in Henderson's favour, in return for becoming chairman.

The Weltkrieg and Post-War[]

In contrast to much of the senior leadership of the party, Henderson was of the believe that the Labour Party should give its full support to the war effort. In August 1914, the parliamentary party voted to support the government's request for war credits of £100,000,000. Ramsay MacDonald immediately resigned the chairmanship of the Labour Party and Henderson, once again, became the leader of the party and the two men became enemies.

The next year, Henderson became the first member of the Labour Party to hold a Cabinet post when Herbert Asquith invited him to join his coalition government. Henderson was described as a "clever, adroit, rather limited-minded man - domineering and a bit quarrelsome - vain and ambitious. He will prove a fairly capable official front-bench man, but will hardly command the support of organised Labour." Henderson was also President of the Board of Education (May, 1915 - October, 1916) and Paymaster General (October, 1916 - August, 1917), during the Weltkrieg. Henderson resigned from the government in 1917 after his proposals for an international conference to end the war were rejected.

Henderson turned his attention to building a strong constituency-based support network for the Labour Party. Previously, it had little national organisation, based largely on branches of unions and socialist societies. Working with Ramsay MacDonald and Sidney Webb, Henderson in 1918 established a national network of constituency organisations. They operated separately from trade unions and the National Executive Committee and were open to everyone sympathetic to the party's policies. Secondly, Henderson secured the adoption of a comprehensive statement of party policies, as drafted by Sidney Webb. Entitled "Labour and the New Social Order," it remains at the core of the basic Labour platform. It proclaimed a socialist party whose principles included a guaranteed minimum standard of living for everyone, nationalisation of industry, and heavy taxation of large incomes and of wealth.

Henderson would successfully defend his seat of Barnard Castle in the 1919 election and moved to become the party's Chief Whip. During this period he would see both William Adamson and J. R. Clynes serve as leaders before MacDonald's return. Despite their past animosities, Henderson worked hard to unite the party under MacDonald and when the first-ever Labour government formed in 1923, Henderson was made the first-ever Labour foreign secretary.

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The British Revolution[]

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Post-Revolution Politics[]

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Later Life & Death[]

Following his retirement from front-bench politics, Henderson committed himself to pacifist causes, particularly the World League of Peace and being an ardent voice in support of some sort of 'World Disarmament Conference' though this would never come to pass. Despite his official absence from politics, Henderson remained an informal 'advisor of special counsel' to both the Foreign Office and the Board of Trade. Henderson clashed with the new Foreign Secretary, Harry Pollitt, on numerous occasions due to their differing approaches to global diplomacy. Henderson wished to maintain the post-1930 status quo but Pollitt wished for a more aggressive approach, actively greenlighting additional support for revolutionary groups.

By late 1933, Henderson's involvement in the government became infrequent and he officially ceased all involvement at the start of 1934. After becoming increasingly reclusive, he took on a "typical pensioner's life" at his home in the South of England. According to his son Arthur, he had "retired to the life of any other old man" and lived a relatively quiet existence, though remained active in local Labour politics. While he was invited to the 1934 party Christmas celebrations, he declined due to poor health. The same year he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

By 1935, Henderson remained somewhat involved in local politics and international pacifist causes but his health had begun a slow decline, leading to him ceasing any public appearances. After a period of moderate improvement in the summer, his health would rapidly decline by the late Autumn though he would survive until the closing days of the year. Henderson would die at 8 PM on Boxing Day, surrounded by his family.

The news was initially kept secret and telegraphed to London where Tom Mann was informed. The Chairman is said to have remarked that 'with his passing Old Labour has died, and with it a gracious friend of us all'. Preparations for a state funeral were put into place and the country was informed by radio broadcast and print media on the 28th of December. John Grierson, Director-General of the BBC, declared 'all the men in England doffed their hats when they heard of Uncle Arthur's passing' and various Labour notables engaged in displays of public mourning. The government would officially declare that as a 'Great Man of State', Henderson will be afforded a state funeral, scheduled for 1936.

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