Aneurin Bevan (1897 - 1960)

Aneurin Bevan was one of the most important ministers of the post-war UK government and the chief architect of the National Health Service.

Aneurin Bevan was born on 15 November 1897 in Tredegar in Wales. His father was a miner and the poor working class family in which Bevan grew up gave him first-hand experience of the problems of poverty and disease.

Bevan left school at 13 and began working in a local colliery. He became a trade union activist and won a scholarship to study in London. It was during this period that he became convinced by the ideas of socialism. During the 1926 General Strike, Bevan emerged as one of the leaders of the South Wales miners. In 1929, Bevan was elected as the Labour member of parliament for Ebbw Vale. In 1934 he married another Labour MP, Jennie Lee.

During World War Two, Bevan was one of the leaders of the left in the House of Commons. After the landslide Labour victory in the 1945 general election, Bevan was appointed Minister of Health, and is responsible for the creation of the National Health Service (aka the NHS). On 5 July 1948, the government took over responsibility for all medical services and there was free diagnosis and treatment for all.

“The collective principle asserts that… no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means.” - Aneurin Bevan, In Place of Fear.

In 1959, Bevan was elected deputy leader of the Labour Party, although he was already suffering from terminal cancer. He died on 6th July 1960.

The NHS saw it’s 70th Anniversary as of 5th July 2018.

Wikipedia page for Bevan - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aneurin_Bevan

Wikipedia page for the NHS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health_Service

A little info on the history of the NHS - https://www.nhs70.nhs.uk/about/nhs-history/