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James Chuter Ede
James Chuter Chuter-Ede, Baron Chuter-Ede, CH, PC, DL, JP, MP (né Ede; 11 September 1882 – 11 November 1965), was a British teacher, trade unionist and Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for 32 years, and served as the sole Home Secretary under Prime Minister Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951, becoming the longest-serving Home Secretary of the 20th or 21st century.
James Chuter Ede was born in Epsom, Surrey, elder son (there were two daughters) of "lower-middle-class" parents, James Ede, a Nonconformist (Unitarian) grocer (who had been an assistant to John Budgen, founder of the Budgens grocery store chain) and his wife Agnes Mary, daughter of local builder James Chuter. He was educated at Epsom National School, Dorking High School for Boys, Battersea Pupil Teachers' Centre, and Christ's College, Cambridge, where he studied natural sciences. He attended Cambridge through a Surrey county scholarship, which did not cover his living expenses, and he ran out of funds at university, dropping out without a degree at the end of his second year. In April and May 1943, Ede's ministerial boss Rab Butler arranged for him to receive an honorary MA from Cambridge. Either through his family background or by a decision made when a student, he became a Unitarian, and his religion consumed much of his time and effort later in life.
Had he graduated from Cambridge, Ede might have pursued a career as a science master in the grammar or public school systems, but instead he became an assistant master at council elementary schools in Surrey from 1905 to 1914, mainly in Mortlake. He took an active part in the Surrey County Teachers’ Association (SCTA), part of the National Union of Teachers. He was active in the Liberal Party, and in 1908 was elected as a member of Epsom Urban District Council, as the youngest councillor in Surrey, and probably the youngest urban district councillor in the country. In 1914, Ede stood for election to Surrey County Council and, as a council employee, had to resign his teaching post before the poll. He was elected, and never worked as a teacher again.
Much of his council work concentrated on education, as the SCTA wanted teacher representation on the Education Committee, to which, after a struggle, he was appointed. During the First World War he served in the East Surrey Regiment and Royal Engineers, reaching the rank of Acting Regimental Sergeant Major. He spent most of the War in France, probably working with poison gas.
During the war, Ede joined the Labour Party, having been critical for some time of senior Liberal figures and of wartime establishment attitudes, and believing Labour better represented working people. He was selected as Labour candidate for Epsom in 1918, but was soundly defeated by a candidate who had been given the "Coalition Coupon". He was appointed assistant secretary of the SCTA, which provided some Union sponsorship for his county council work. He retained this post until he became a Government minister, and he gradually took over running the Association, as well as dominating education policy in Surrey, a county where population increases brought about the need for much new school building.
Ede chaired Epsom UDC in 1920. Ede was first elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for Mitcham, at a by-election in March 1923, which caused a considerable stir in the media. However, he lost the seat in December at the 1923 general election, and was defeated there again in 1924.
Ede eventually left Epsom UDC in 1927, having lived for some years in Mitcham. He returned to Parliament at the 1929 general election, for the Tyneside seat of South Shields. In the short-lived Labour government of 1929–31, Ede was appointed in 1930 to chair a government committee on educational standards in private schools. This reported in 1932, and Ede gradually became the Labour Party's main specialist in the field of education, following the retirement from active politics of Charles Trevelyan, whose encouragement Ede had received, including through this appointment.
Ede had again lost his seat in Parliament at the 1931 election. He rejoined Epsom UDC (by now Epsom and Ewell UDC) in 1933, and chaired Surrey CC the same year. In 1934 Ede became chairman of the London and Home Counties Joint Electricity Authority, of which he had been a member since 1928. He held this post until 1940.
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James Chuter Ede
James Chuter Chuter-Ede, Baron Chuter-Ede, CH, PC, DL, JP, MP (né Ede; 11 September 1882 – 11 November 1965), was a British teacher, trade unionist and Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for 32 years, and served as the sole Home Secretary under Prime Minister Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951, becoming the longest-serving Home Secretary of the 20th or 21st century.
James Chuter Ede was born in Epsom, Surrey, elder son (there were two daughters) of "lower-middle-class" parents, James Ede, a Nonconformist (Unitarian) grocer (who had been an assistant to John Budgen, founder of the Budgens grocery store chain) and his wife Agnes Mary, daughter of local builder James Chuter. He was educated at Epsom National School, Dorking High School for Boys, Battersea Pupil Teachers' Centre, and Christ's College, Cambridge, where he studied natural sciences. He attended Cambridge through a Surrey county scholarship, which did not cover his living expenses, and he ran out of funds at university, dropping out without a degree at the end of his second year. In April and May 1943, Ede's ministerial boss Rab Butler arranged for him to receive an honorary MA from Cambridge. Either through his family background or by a decision made when a student, he became a Unitarian, and his religion consumed much of his time and effort later in life.
Had he graduated from Cambridge, Ede might have pursued a career as a science master in the grammar or public school systems, but instead he became an assistant master at council elementary schools in Surrey from 1905 to 1914, mainly in Mortlake. He took an active part in the Surrey County Teachers’ Association (SCTA), part of the National Union of Teachers. He was active in the Liberal Party, and in 1908 was elected as a member of Epsom Urban District Council, as the youngest councillor in Surrey, and probably the youngest urban district councillor in the country. In 1914, Ede stood for election to Surrey County Council and, as a council employee, had to resign his teaching post before the poll. He was elected, and never worked as a teacher again.
Much of his council work concentrated on education, as the SCTA wanted teacher representation on the Education Committee, to which, after a struggle, he was appointed. During the First World War he served in the East Surrey Regiment and Royal Engineers, reaching the rank of Acting Regimental Sergeant Major. He spent most of the War in France, probably working with poison gas.
During the war, Ede joined the Labour Party, having been critical for some time of senior Liberal figures and of wartime establishment attitudes, and believing Labour better represented working people. He was selected as Labour candidate for Epsom in 1918, but was soundly defeated by a candidate who had been given the "Coalition Coupon". He was appointed assistant secretary of the SCTA, which provided some Union sponsorship for his county council work. He retained this post until he became a Government minister, and he gradually took over running the Association, as well as dominating education policy in Surrey, a county where population increases brought about the need for much new school building.
Ede chaired Epsom UDC in 1920. Ede was first elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for Mitcham, at a by-election in March 1923, which caused a considerable stir in the media. However, he lost the seat in December at the 1923 general election, and was defeated there again in 1924.
Ede eventually left Epsom UDC in 1927, having lived for some years in Mitcham. He returned to Parliament at the 1929 general election, for the Tyneside seat of South Shields. In the short-lived Labour government of 1929–31, Ede was appointed in 1930 to chair a government committee on educational standards in private schools. This reported in 1932, and Ede gradually became the Labour Party's main specialist in the field of education, following the retirement from active politics of Charles Trevelyan, whose encouragement Ede had received, including through this appointment.
Ede had again lost his seat in Parliament at the 1931 election. He rejoined Epsom UDC (by now Epsom and Ewell UDC) in 1933, and chaired Surrey CC the same year. In 1934 Ede became chairman of the London and Home Counties Joint Electricity Authority, of which he had been a member since 1928. He held this post until 1940.