Episode 36. ‘Good George Lansbury’

SYNOPSIS

Creator of The Good Food Guide , Raymond Postage, notes in his definitive biography of the man, that his father-in-law, member of parliament and one-time leader of the Labour Party, was once referred to in a daily picture paper, with no suggestion of mockery, as ‘Good George Lansbury.’ A plaudit that few contemporary politicians would win. George was also the father of ten children. His descendants include Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Murder, She Wrote star, Angela Lansbury, and Oliver Postgate, co-creator of several classic children’s programmes including Noggin the Nog, Clangers and Bagpuss.

George Lansbury (1859-1940) was regarded so highly because of his work for the destitute as an innovative Poor Law Guardian, his long-term commitment to live amongst the people that he represented in the Cockney area of Bow, and his willingness to go to prison in the 1921 Poplar Rebellion against the unfair rating system of the time. His humanism found its roots in a life-long Christian Socialism.

An early supporter of the Suffragettes and an opponent of Imperialism, Lansbury has seen his posthumous reputation affected by his campaign for worldwide disarmament in the years leading up to the Second World War. He stood down from the leadership of the Labour Party in 1935 after being attacked for his pacifism by the trade union leader, Ernest Bevin. Poignantly, only days after the Westminster Abbey memorial service for George Lansbury in 1940, half his borough of Poplar was destroyed in the London Blitz, nothing being left of Lansbury’s house in Bow Road but a doorway and a door.

GUESTS

The George Lansbury Memorial Trust was founded in 2012 to commemorate his life, work and legacy. Professor Pippa Catterall and Daniel Payne are both involved in promoting the Memorial Trust. They bring expertise to the episode from their respective roles as Professor of History and Policy at the University of Westminster and Curator for Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics, where the George Lansbury Archive is being digitized.

For more information on The George Lansbury Memorial Trust, please visit

https://www.georgelansbury.org.uk/

For more information on the George Lansbury Online Archive at the LSE, please visit

https://lse-atom.arkivum.net/uklse-dl1gl01

Pippa and Daniel’s interview with Simon Machin was recorded at the London School of Economics on 30 October 2023.