Clement-Jones family - Person Sheet
Clement-Jones family - Person Sheet
NamePeter SHORE Lord Shore of Stephney, 9430
Birth1924
Death2001
Spouses
Birth1927
Father(Edwin) Murray WRONG , 9410 (1925-2012)
MotherRosalind Grace SMITH , 9398 (1892-1984)
Marriage1949
Notes for Peter SHORE Lord Shore of Stephney
Peter David Shore, Baron Shore of Stepney PC (20 May 1924 – 24 September 2001) was a British Labour politician and former Cabinet Minister, noted in part for his opposition to the United Kingdom's entry into the European Economic Community. His idiosyncratic left-wing nationalism led to comparison with the French politician Jean-Pierre Chevènement.[1] He was described in an obituary by the Conservative journalist Patrick Cosgrave as "Between Harold Wilson and Tony Blair, the only possible Labour Party leader of whom a Conservative leader had cause to walk in fear."[2]
]Early life
Born in Great Yarmouth, Shore was the son of a Merchant Navy captain and was brought up in a middle-class environment. He attended the Quarry Bank Grammar School in Liverpool, England, and went from there to King's College, Cambridge, to study history, where he was a member of the Cambridge Apostles, a secret society with an elite membership.[3] During the later stages of World War II he served in the Royal Air Force, spending most time in India.
Member of Parliament
He had specialised in political economy during part of his degree and joined the Labour Party in 1948. He spent the 1950s working for the party and after two unsuccessful Parliamentary contests, he was appointed as Head of the Labour Party's Research Department in 1959 and took charge of the renewal of party policy following its third successive defeat. Shore was only briefly a follower of Hugh Gaitskell; his adherence to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from 1958 led to a breach in relations for several years.[4] He became close to Harold Wilson once he had been elected as Leader, and was the main author of the Labour Party manifesto for the 1964 general election. At the last minute he was selected to fight the safe seat of Stepney in the election, and easily retained it having unsuccessfully fought St Ives in 1950 and Halifax in 1959.
After only a short time on the backbenches, Wilson chose Shore to be his Parliamentary Private Secretary, responsible for liaising between the Prime Minister and Labour MPs, though Denis Healey termed him "Harold's lapdog".[4] Shore was responsible for drafting the 1966[6] and 1970[7] election manifestos.[3] Shore's job as Wilson's PPS kept them in close contact and he was impressed enough to give Shore rapid promotion. In August 1967, aged 43 and after less than three years as an MP, Shore became a member of the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Economic Affairs.
In government
This Department had been created by Wilson to undertake long-term planning of the economy. Shore declared immediately his belief in state-controlled economic planning, together with the regulation of prices and wages. This outlook was unpopular with the trade unions, who had great influence at the time. Early in 1968 the responsibility for prices and incomes was transferred to another department. The Treasury had never approved of the creation of the Department for Economic Affairs and began reasserting its influence, depriving it of any significant power. The Department was wound up in October 1969. At the same time, Shore sided with those in cabinet who were opposed to Barbara Castle's White Paper In Place of Strife. In a conversation with Richard Crossman at the time, Wilson was frustrated with Shore: "I over-promoted him. He's no good."
Shore was retained in the Cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons. He played a key part, behind the scenes, in planning the Labour Party's unsuccessful 1970 general election campaign. In opposition, Shore was appointed as spokesman on Europe, taking the lead in opposing the Heath government's application to join the European Economic Community. Shore had already become convinced that membership of the EEC would be a disaster because it would forbid a British government from taking necessary economic action. However, due to organisation by pro-EEC Labour backbenchers, Heath was able to steer his policy successfully through Parliament.
]EEC
When Wilson returned to government in 1974, Shore was appointed as Secretary of State for Trade. His term in office was dominated by the renegotiation of the terms of British membership of the EEC, a pledge contained in the Labour manifesto as a preparation for a national referendum on membership; this compromise had reunited the Labour Party on the issue. Shore participated in the discussions without believing that any new terms would be acceptable, and during the referendum he joined with other anti-EEC 'dissenting ministers' in opposing membership.
The results of the 1975 Referendum, giving a two-to-one majority in favour of remaining members, damaged Shore along with the other dissenting ministers. His inclination to support an autarkic economy ruled him out of consideration as a new Chancellor of the Exchequer, but Shore was moved to Secretary of State for the Environment by new Prime Minister James Callaghan in 1976. This move was a promotion but involved him in considerable political controversy. He called on local authorities to cut spending and waste, and criticised the trade unions representing local authority staff for failure to support modernisation. Shore also launched a campaign to revitalise the inner cities of Britain.
Labour leadership candidate
When the Labour Party went into opposition in 1979, Shore was made Shadow Foreign Secretary, having recanted on his previous support for CND. He was persuaded to stand as a candidate in the election of a new party Leader in November 1980 by Michael Foot who thought he was the best-placed soft-left candidate to defeat Denis Healey. However, Shore came bottom of the poll with 32 votes when Foot was himself persuaded to stand. Foot then made him Shadow Chancellor where his support for interventionist measures met with Foot's approval; party policy also became opposed to EEC membership, which suited Shore well.
]Shadow Cabinet, Backbenches and retirement
He fought for the leadership again after Foot resigned, but obtained a dismal vote of 3%,[4] being supported by no Constituency Labour Parties at all. Shore served as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons for four years under Neil Kinnock but his influence with the leadership was negligible and he was not re-elected to the Shadow Cabinet in 1985. He stood down from the front bench in 1987 and thereafter served on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, devoting himself to European Union questions. Tony Blair selected him as a senior Labour statesman as his nominee for the Committee on Standards in Public Life when it was set up in 1994.
After several attempts in his constituency party to deselect him, he finally stood down from Parliament at the 1997 general election, taking a life peerage as Baron Shore of Stepney, of Stepney in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the dissolution honours' list. His book Separate Ways (2000) advocated a multi-speed Europe, with some countries as merely associate members, so as to allow the centre to forge a political union at its own pace.
]Early life
Born in Great Yarmouth, Shore was the son of a Merchant Navy captain and was brought up in a middle-class environment. He attended the Quarry Bank Grammar School in Liverpool, England, and went from there to King's College, Cambridge, to study history, where he was a member of the Cambridge Apostles, a secret society with an elite membership.[3] During the later stages of World War II he served in the Royal Air Force, spending most time in India.
Member of Parliament
He had specialised in political economy during part of his degree and joined the Labour Party in 1948. He spent the 1950s working for the party and after two unsuccessful Parliamentary contests, he was appointed as Head of the Labour Party's Research Department in 1959 and took charge of the renewal of party policy following its third successive defeat. Shore was only briefly a follower of Hugh Gaitskell; his adherence to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from 1958 led to a breach in relations for several years.[4] He became close to Harold Wilson once he had been elected as Leader, and was the main author of the Labour Party manifesto for the 1964 general election. At the last minute he was selected to fight the safe seat of Stepney in the election, and easily retained it having unsuccessfully fought St Ives in 1950 and Halifax in 1959.
After only a short time on the backbenches, Wilson chose Shore to be his Parliamentary Private Secretary, responsible for liaising between the Prime Minister and Labour MPs, though Denis Healey termed him "Harold's lapdog".[4] Shore was responsible for drafting the 1966[6] and 1970[7] election manifestos.[3] Shore's job as Wilson's PPS kept them in close contact and he was impressed enough to give Shore rapid promotion. In August 1967, aged 43 and after less than three years as an MP, Shore became a member of the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Economic Affairs.
In government
This Department had been created by Wilson to undertake long-term planning of the economy. Shore declared immediately his belief in state-controlled economic planning, together with the regulation of prices and wages. This outlook was unpopular with the trade unions, who had great influence at the time. Early in 1968 the responsibility for prices and incomes was transferred to another department. The Treasury had never approved of the creation of the Department for Economic Affairs and began reasserting its influence, depriving it of any significant power. The Department was wound up in October 1969. At the same time, Shore sided with those in cabinet who were opposed to Barbara Castle's White Paper In Place of Strife. In a conversation with Richard Crossman at the time, Wilson was frustrated with Shore: "I over-promoted him. He's no good."
Shore was retained in the Cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons. He played a key part, behind the scenes, in planning the Labour Party's unsuccessful 1970 general election campaign. In opposition, Shore was appointed as spokesman on Europe, taking the lead in opposing the Heath government's application to join the European Economic Community. Shore had already become convinced that membership of the EEC would be a disaster because it would forbid a British government from taking necessary economic action. However, due to organisation by pro-EEC Labour backbenchers, Heath was able to steer his policy successfully through Parliament.
]EEC
When Wilson returned to government in 1974, Shore was appointed as Secretary of State for Trade. His term in office was dominated by the renegotiation of the terms of British membership of the EEC, a pledge contained in the Labour manifesto as a preparation for a national referendum on membership; this compromise had reunited the Labour Party on the issue. Shore participated in the discussions without believing that any new terms would be acceptable, and during the referendum he joined with other anti-EEC 'dissenting ministers' in opposing membership.
The results of the 1975 Referendum, giving a two-to-one majority in favour of remaining members, damaged Shore along with the other dissenting ministers. His inclination to support an autarkic economy ruled him out of consideration as a new Chancellor of the Exchequer, but Shore was moved to Secretary of State for the Environment by new Prime Minister James Callaghan in 1976. This move was a promotion but involved him in considerable political controversy. He called on local authorities to cut spending and waste, and criticised the trade unions representing local authority staff for failure to support modernisation. Shore also launched a campaign to revitalise the inner cities of Britain.
Labour leadership candidate
When the Labour Party went into opposition in 1979, Shore was made Shadow Foreign Secretary, having recanted on his previous support for CND. He was persuaded to stand as a candidate in the election of a new party Leader in November 1980 by Michael Foot who thought he was the best-placed soft-left candidate to defeat Denis Healey. However, Shore came bottom of the poll with 32 votes when Foot was himself persuaded to stand. Foot then made him Shadow Chancellor where his support for interventionist measures met with Foot's approval; party policy also became opposed to EEC membership, which suited Shore well.
]Shadow Cabinet, Backbenches and retirement
He fought for the leadership again after Foot resigned, but obtained a dismal vote of 3%,[4] being supported by no Constituency Labour Parties at all. Shore served as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons for four years under Neil Kinnock but his influence with the leadership was negligible and he was not re-elected to the Shadow Cabinet in 1985. He stood down from the front bench in 1987 and thereafter served on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, devoting himself to European Union questions. Tony Blair selected him as a senior Labour statesman as his nominee for the Committee on Standards in Public Life when it was set up in 1994.
After several attempts in his constituency party to deselect him, he finally stood down from Parliament at the 1997 general election, taking a life peerage as Baron Shore of Stepney, of Stepney in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the dissolution honours' list. His book Separate Ways (2000) advocated a multi-speed Europe, with some countries as merely associate members, so as to allow the centre to forge a political union at its own pace.