James Chuter Ede facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Right Honourable The Lord Chuter-Ede CH PC DL JP
Ede in 1945
Leader of the House of Commons
In office 16 March 1951 – 26 October 1951
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Herbert Morrison
Succeeded by	Harry Crookshank
Home Secretary
In office 3 August 1945 – 26 October 1951
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Sir Donald Somervell
Succeeded by	Sir David Maxwell Fyfe
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education
In office 15 May 1940 – 13 August 1944
President	Herwald Ramsbotham Rab Butler
Preceded by	Kenneth Lindsay
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education
In office 13 August 1944 – 23 May 1945
Minister	Rab Butler
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Thelma Cazalet-Keir
Member of Parliament for South Shields
In office 14 November 1935 – 25 September 1964
Preceded by	Harcourt Johnstone
Succeeded by	Arthur Blenkinsop
In office 30 May 1929 – 6 October 1931
Preceded by	Edward Harney
Succeeded by	Harcourt Johnstone
Member of Parliament for Mitcham
In office 3 March 1923 – 16 November 1923
Preceded by	Thomas Worsfold
Succeeded by	Richard James Meller
Personal details
Born	James Chuter Ede (1882-09-11)11 September 1882 Epsom, Surrey
Died	11 November 1965(1965-11-11) (aged 83) Ewell, Surrey
Political party	Labour
Other political affiliations	Liberal
Spouse	Lilian Williams ​ ​ (m. 1917; died 1948)​
Alma mater	Christ's College, Cambridge

James Chuter Ede, also known as Baron Chuter-Ede, was an important British politician. He was born on 11 September 1882 and passed away on 11 November 1965. He started his career as a teacher and a trade union member.

He was a Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 32 years. From 1945 to 1951, he was the Home Secretary under Prime Minister Clement Attlee. He holds the record for being the longest-serving Home Secretary of the 20th century.

Early Life and Education

James Chuter Ede grew up in Epsom, Surrey. His father, James Ede, was a grocer with strong religious beliefs. James went to local schools and then studied natural sciences at Christ's College, Cambridge.

He received a scholarship to attend Cambridge. However, it did not cover all his living costs. He had to leave university before finishing his degree because he ran out of money. He became a Unitarian, a religion that became very important to him later in life.

From Teacher to Politician

Instead of becoming a science teacher, Ede worked as an assistant teacher in Surrey from 1905 to 1914. He was very active in the Surrey County Teachers’ Association. This group was part of the National Union of Teachers.

Ede also joined the Liberal Party. In 1908, he was elected to the Epsom Urban District Council. He was the youngest councillor in Surrey at the time. In 1914, he was elected to the Surrey County Council. He had to quit his teaching job to do this. He never returned to teaching.

Much of his council work focused on education. He fought for teachers to be represented on the Education Committee. During First World War, he served in the East Surrey Regiment and Royal Engineers. He spent most of the war in France.

Starting His Political Career

During the war, Ede decided to join the Labour Party. He felt that Labour better represented working people. He first ran for Parliament in Epsom in 1918 but did not win.

He became assistant secretary of the Surrey County Teachers’ Association. This helped him continue his work on the county council. He became a key figure in education policy in Surrey. He helped plan many new schools as the population grew.

First Time in Parliament

Ede was first elected to the House of Commons in March 1923. He became the MP for Mitcham after a special election. This election caused a lot of media attention. However, he lost the seat later that year and again in 1924.

He left the Epsom council in 1927. He returned to Parliament in 1929, representing South Shields. In the Labour government of 1929–31, Ede led a committee on private school standards. He became the Labour Party's main expert on education.

Ede lost his seat again in 1931. He rejoined the Epsom council in 1933 and chaired the Surrey County Council that same year. He also chaired the London and Home Counties Joint Electricity Authority from 1934 to 1940.

He was re-elected for South Shields in 1935. He held this seat until he retired from Parliament in 1964. When Epsom became a borough in 1937, he was chosen as the "Charter Mayor." He also became a deputy lieutenant for Surrey. Ede was interested in science and photography. He also worked hard to protect the environment in Surrey. He helped create green belt areas and build bypasses to reduce traffic.

Education Minister During Wartime

During World War II, Ede became a junior minister. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education in May 1940. He worked under two Conservative leaders, Herwald Ramsbotham and R.A. Butler.

Ede and Butler worked together to reform education. They published a plan called a white paper. This plan suggested several changes:

• Raising the school-leaving age to 15 or 16.
• Ending the separate systems of elementary and secondary schooling.
• Deciding how to include public schools in the state system.
• Dealing with the "dual system" of state and religious schools.

Ede's deep knowledge of state education was vital. He and Butler successfully guided the Education Act 1944 through Parliament. This Act made secondary education free. It also set the school-leaving age at 15. The Act created nursery schools and provided for children with special educational needs. It also covered further education, school meals, and medical care. Independent schools were inspected, and a compulsory act of worship was introduced.

Home Secretary and Later Career

After the Labour Party won the 1945 election, Ede became Home Secretary. He stayed in this role throughout the 1945 Labour government led by Clement Attlee. In 1951, he was also the Leader of the House of Commons.

As Home Secretary, he reformed many public services. These included the police, fire services, and civil defense. He made the police a more professional force with better training. He also improved child care services and magistrates’ courts.

Key Laws and Changes

Ede was involved in several important laws:

• The Representation of the People Act 1948: This law made sure that every person had "one vote." It removed university seats and other special voting rights.
• The British Nationality Act 1948: This law created a single status for "Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies." This meant all citizens of the UK and its colonies had equal rights to live and work in the UK.
• The Criminal Justice Act 1948: This law ended harsh punishments like hard labour and whipping. It also set up new ways to help young offenders.

Ede also made other changes. He ended the tradition of the Home Secretary attending royal births. He helped change the date of the Grand National horse race to a Saturday. He also helped Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh become a British citizen.

Retirement and Legacy

When Labour lost the 1951 election, Ede left government. He then focused on other interests. He became a trustee of the British Museum. He was also active in the BBC's General Advisory Council.

In 1964, he retired from Parliament. He was made a life peer as Baron Chuter-Ede. He adopted the surname Chuter-Ede at this time.

Involvement with the Unitarian Church

Ede was very active in the Unitarian Church. As Home Secretary, he spoke at their General Assembly in 1947. He also made sure the church was represented at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday.

After leaving office in 1951, he became even more involved. He attended international conferences for religious freedom. In 1955, he was elected President of the International Association for Liberal Christianity and Religious Freedom. He even visited North America for this role.

From 1957 to 1958, Ede was President of the Unitarian General Assembly. He traveled widely, speaking to different congregations.

Views on Capital Punishment

In 1938, Ede voted to end the death penalty for murder. However, when he became Home Secretary, his views changed. In 1948, some MPs tried to abolish hanging through an amendment to his Criminal Justice Bill. At that time, Ede, following government policy, opposed this change.

As Home Secretary, Ede had the power to decide if a death sentence should be carried out. For a while, he changed every death sentence to life imprisonment. But the House of Lords rejected the amendment. So, the Criminal Justice Act 1948 did not abolish capital punishment. He allowed hangings to continue.

Later, Ede changed his mind about capital punishment. He became a strong supporter of its abolition. In November 1965, the death penalty for murder was finally abolished in the UK. This happened shortly before Ede's death. His efforts were seen as a final stand for his beliefs.

Family Life

Ede married Lilian Mary Williams in 1917. They did not have any children. Lilian passed away in 1948 after being ill for some years. Lord Chuter-Ede died 17 years later, in November 1965, at the age of 83.

Memorials and Legacy

Several places are named after James Chuter Ede. The Chuter Ede Education Centre in South Shields is one example. There is also a ward in Epsom Hospital and a primary school near Newark-on-Trent that bear his name. The Labour Party headquarters in South Shields is called Ede House.

See also

• List of Unitarians, Universalists, and Unitarian Universalists
• Home Secretary