Gaitskell Papers

Papers, 1902-1963, of the Rt Hon Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell, predominantly political, comprising family and personal papers, 1902-1963 (Ref: A); papers relating to his early life and career, 1924-1939 (Ref: B); political career, 1931-1963 (Ref: C); engagements, 1948-1963 (Ref: D); constituency visits and cases, 1946-1961 (Ref: E); general correspondence, 1927-1962 (Ref: F); pamphlets and printed papers, 1914-1956 (Ref: G).

Born 9 April 1906; educated, Winchester and New College Oxford, First Class Hons Philosophy, Politics and Economics, 1927; Workers'; Educational Association lecturer, 1927; Assistant, Department of Political Economy, University College London, 1928; joined 1917 Club, 1929; founded Tots & Quots, a left-wing discussion group, 1930; Assistant Honorary Secretary and Chairman of the Economics Section of the New Fabian Research Bureau, 1931; awarded Rockefeller Foundation Scholarship and spent next academic year studying in Vienna, Austria, 1933; Secretary, XYZ Club, 1934; stood as a Labour Party candidate in Chatham, Kent, in General Election, defeated by Conservative, 1935; adopted as prospective candidate for Leeds South, 1937; promoted to Readership at University College London, 1937; co-opted onto National Executive Committee, Finance and Trade Sub-committee, 1937; joined war-time Civil Service at newly founded Ministry of Economic Warfare, 1939; Principal Private Secretary to Hugh Dalton, Minister of Economic Warfare, 1940-1942; Principal Assistant Secretary to Dalton at Board of Trade, 1942-1945; elected as member for Leeds South, General Election, 1945-1963; Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Fuel and Power, 1946-1947; Minister of Fuel and Power, 1947-1950; Minister of State for Economic Affairs, 1950; Chancellor of Exchequer, 1950-1951; Treasurer of Labour Party, 1954-1956; Leader of Labour Party, 1955-1963; Vice-Chairman, Labour Party Executive Committee, 1962; died, 18 January 1963. Publications: 'Chartism' (Longmans & Co, London, 1929); 'Money and everyday life' (Labour Book Service, London, 1939); 'In defence of politics' (London, 1954); 'The high cost of Toryism' (Labour Party, London, 1955); 'Recent developments in British Socialist thinking' (Co-operative Union, London, 1956); 'The challenge of co-existence' (Methuen & Co, London, 1957); 'Britain and the common market' (Labour Party, London, 1962); various articles written for publications such as 'New York Times Magazine', 'Reynolds News', 'The Birmingham Post', 'Leeds Weekly Citizen', 'The Observer', 'Daily Mail', 'Daily Mirror', 'Social Commentary' and 'New Statesman and Nation'.

The list, to some extent, follows the arrangement adopted by Philip Williams whilst the papers were in his care at Nuffield College, Oxford. Williams divided the archive into seven artificial groups: family, economic, political, visits, appointments, constituency, utterances and pamphlets, but there is no evidence of disturbance by Williams of documents within individual folders and original series of files appear to be intact. The collection has been slightly rearranged, and is now under the headings: family and personal papers, early life and career, political career, engagements, constituency visits and cases, general correspondence, and pamphlets and printed papers.

Certain restrictions apply

The papers are available subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking. Some sections are restrcited or closed under Data Protection legislation. Please see the detailed catalogued for further information.

Deposited at University College London in 1980.

A full, detailed handlist is available online.

Normal copyright restrictions apply.

After Gaitskell's death, his papers passed to the care of his widow, until the early 1970s when they were loaned to Nuffield College, Oxford, to assist Philip Williams' research for the official biography of Gaitskell.

Constituency correspondence, 1952-1963, held at West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds (Ref: Acc2845); correspondence with New Statesman magazine, 1952, held at Sussex University Library Manuscript Collections (Ref: SxMs60); correspondence with Lord Beaverbrook, 1958-1964, held at the House of Lords Record Office, the Parliamentary Archives (Ref: BBK C/139); correspondence with William Clark, 1953-1960, (Ref: MSS William Clark) and with R R Stokes, 1950-1957, (Ref: Stokes papers) held at Oxford University, Bodleian Library; letters to Desmond Donnelly, 1955-1962, held at the National Library of Wales (Ref: Desmond Donnelly Papers/A,C).