Arthur Creech Jones - Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

Creech Jones specialised in Colonial affairs in Parliament, especially those in Africa. In June 1936 he pressed the Government, who were encouraging Colonies to set up memorials to King George V, to follow the example of Uganda and set up a technical educational institution. The Labour Party nominated him to the Colonial Office's Educational Advisory Committee in 1936, on which he served for nine years. In 1937, he was a founding member of the Trades Union Congress Colonial Affairs Committee, and in 1940 he founded the Fabian Colonial Bureau.

In 1939 Creech Jones promoted his Private Member's Bill, the Access to Mountains Bill, to Parliament. He had long enjoyed walking in the open countryside but found private landowners had barred the way, and the Bill required mountains and moorland to be opened. Creech Jones organised a conference with those affected the Bill at which agreement was reached on amendments to the Bill which would enable their objections to be withdrawn; this compromise enabled the Bill to pass into law.

When Ernest Bevin was appointed Minister of Labour in 1940, he picked Creech Jones as his Parliamentary Private Secretary. He used his influence in the Government to improve conditions for conscientious objectors. As Chairman of the Labour Party's advisory committee on imperial issues, Creech Jones did much to formulate party policy on the colonies prior to the 1945 general election. He was Vice Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education for West Africa which was set up in 1943, visiting the West African colonies to compile a well-received report.