Arthur Ernest Wicks (1915–2006) was a Labour politician and last chairman of the London County Council.
A conscientious objector during the Second World War, he was first elected to the Shoreditch Metropolitan Borough Council in the 1950s, and became chairman of housing, at a time when Shoreditch had one of England's highest concentrations of municipal housing.
Elected to the LCC for Shoreditch and Finsbury in 1952, he gave his time to housing and parks. County Hall, London, a Labour stronghold since 1934, was a pioneering model for Labour ideas and plans, including comprehensive education, school music, housing development and the establishment of the South Bank complex. As LCC chairman from 1963 to 1965, Arthur oversaw the transition in 1964 to the new Greater London Council and served on the GLC until 1981.
He also owned two shops and a cafe in Islington. His main shop, selling everything from paraffin and groceries to hardware, served as an informal advice surgery. His wife, Daisy, died in 1992 and he was survived by his his sons. One of his sons – Malcolm Wicks – who was a Labour Minister, died in September 2012 after a long illness, aged 65.
Famous quotes containing the words arthur and/or wicks:
“Have We not made the earth as a cradle
and the mountains as pegs?
And We created you in pairs,
and We appointed your sleep for a rest;
and We appointed night for a garment,
and We appointed day for a livelihood.
And We have built above you seven strong ones,
and We appointed a blazing lamp
and have sent down out of the rain-clouds water cascading
that We may bring forth thereby grain and plants,
and gardens luxuriant.”
—Qur’an, “The Tiding” 78:6-16, ed. Arthur J. Arberry (1955)
“All stars stand close in summer air
And tremble, and look mild as amber;
When wicks are lighted in the chamber
You might say stars were settling there.”
—Léonie Adams (1899–1988)