Arthur Creech Jones
Arthur Creech Jones (15 May 1891 – 23 October 1964) was a British trade union official and politician. Originally a civil servant, his imprisonment as a conscientious objector during the First World War forced him to change careers. He was elected to Parliament in 1935 and developed a reputation for interest in colonial matters, gaining the nickname "unofficial member of the Kikuyu at Westminster". He served in the Colonial Office in the Labour government of 1945–1950. After losing his seat in the 1950 general election he was involved in writing and lecturing about British colonies, before returning to Parliament in 1954. Initially, he was known as Arthur Jones, but throughout his time in politics he invariably used his middle name. Early life Creech Jones was the son of a lithographic printer from Bristol. He went to Whitehall Boys' School, and won a scholarship to study French, Mathematics and Commerce for an extra year when he was 13. On leaving school in 1905, he worked in a solicitor's office and prepared for the Civil Service Junior Clerks' Examination. Having passed the exam, he joined the War Office and later worked for the Crown Agents, who acted as the London representatives of British dominions and colonies. He also attended evening classes to improve his education. In his spare time, Jones was also involved with political groups; he was an active member of the Liberal Christian League, which brought him into contact with senior members of the Liberal Party. His education about politics led him to question, and eventually drop, his membership of the Methodist church. He helped to found the Camberwell Trades and Labour Council in 1913, and later became honorary Secretary of the Dulwich branch of the Independent Labour Party (ILP). After the outbreak of the First World War, Jones was involved across London with the ILP; he had become a pacifist, and organised anti-conscription meetings when conscription was introduced in 1916. Imprisonment He was called up that autumn, but refused to participate in any way. As a result, Jones was not granted an exemption from military service and was sent to prison from September 1916, and was not released until April 1919. He used his imprisonment as an opportunity to read further on history, politics and economics; he also made useful contacts in prison with figures who would later become senior in the Labour Party. Trade unionist On leaving prison, Creech Jones was unable to resume a civil service career; instead he did research on prisons for the Labour Research Department, a trade union-funded body (it did not have any formal connections with the Labour Party). Later that year he was appointed as Secretary of the National Union of Docks, Wharves and Shipping Staffs, and edited the union journal. When his union became a founding constituent of the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) in 1922, he was promoted to be national secretary of the administrative, clerical and supervisory section. At the 1922 London County Council election he was one