Anthony Crosland

Anthony Crosland   (politician)
Born	29 August 1918 St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, England
Died	19 February 1977 (Age 58) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Cause of death	cerebral haemorrhage
Alma mater	Trinity College (Oxford)
Member of	Fabian Society
Victim of	premature death
Party	Labour
UK MP on the right wing of the Labour Party, and receiver of CIA money, which was flowing through the Congress for Cultural Freedom to move the party away from nationalization and pacifism. Closet homosexual in the 1950s when it still was illegal.  Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs In office 8 April 1976 - 19 February 1977  Secretary of State for the Environment  In office 5 March 1974 - 8 April 1976 Preceded by Geoffrey Rippon Succeeded by Peter Shore  Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment In office 19 June 1970 - 5 March 1974  Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning In office 6 October 1969 - 19 June 1970  President of the Board of Trade  In office 29 August 1967 - 6 October 1969 Preceded by Douglas Jay Succeeded by Roy Mason  Secretary of State for Education and Science In office 22 January 1965 - 29 August 1967 Preceded by Michael Stewart Succeeded by Patrick Gordon Walker  Minister of State for Economic Affairs In office 20 October 1964 - 22 January 1965  Economic Secretary to the Treasury  In office 19 October 1964 - 22 December 1964  Member of Parliament for Great Grimsby In office 8 October 1959 - 19 February 1977  Member of Parliament for South Gloucestershire In office 23 February 1950 - 26 May 1955

Charles Anthony Raven Crosland was a British Labour politician and author.

On the right wing of the Labour Party, he was a prominent party intellectual. His influential book The Future of Socialism (1956) argued for remodeling the party in the image of the American Democratic Party.

Congress for Cultural Freedom

Crosland was a receiver of CIA money, which was flowing through the Congress for Cultural Freedom to such magazines as Encounter which have given Labour politicians like Crosland, Denis Healey, and Hugh Gaitskell a platform for their campaigns to move the Labour Party away from nationalization and pacifism.

The Congress for Cultural Freedom was establishing solid ties with the coming man of the British Labour Party, Anthony Crosland, who was by now acknowledged as the party's chief theoretician. He had lost his seat at Westminster in the 1955 election, but in the following years was traveling regularly to Paris to plan the international seminars of the CCF with Melvin Lasky and Michael Josselson under the directorship of Daniel Bell. Michael Josselson , who in 1 967 admitted that he had for 17 years been channeling CIA money into the CCF. has described to us Crosland' s role at this period. Crosland's contribution, he says, was "encouraging sympathetic people" to participate in the seminars sponsored by the congress all over the world. Crosland himself traveled to Vienna in 1 958, to Berlin in 1960,

and to Australia and Japan in 1964 on a congress-sponsored tour.

He was at this date a member of the International Council of the CCF after nearly a decade working to remodel European socialism in the image of the American Democratic Party, a cause for the sake of which the CCF had financed a systematic campaign of congresses, seminars, and private gatherings for leading Socialists throughout Europe.

Career

Having been a Member of Parliament (MP) for South Gloucestershire from 1950 to 1955, Crosland returned to Parliament for Great Grimsby (1959–1977). During Harold Wilson's governments of 1964–1970 he was Economic Secretary to the Treasury (1964), then Minister of State for Economic Affairs (1964–1965). Entering the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Education and Science (1965–1967), he led the Labour campaign to replace grammar schools with comprehensive schools that did not use the eleven-plus for the selection of pupils. He later was President of the Board of Trade (1967–1969), then Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning (1969–1970).

When Labour returned to power he became Secretary of State for the Environment (1974–1976) and briefly as Foreign Secretary (1976–1977). In that role he promoted détente with the Soviet Union. He died suddenly in February 1977 of a cerebral haemorrhage, aged 58.

Personal life

Early in his life Crosland had numerous affairs, including allegedly with Roy Jenkins. He later described the relationship as "an exceedingly close and intense friendship."

Crosland benefited from the patronage of Hugh Dalton, who, in 1951, wrote to Richard Crossman: "Thinking of Tony, with all his youth and beauty and gaiety and charm... I weep. I am more fond of that young man than I can put into words." According to Nicholas Davenport, Dalton's unrequited feelings for Crosland became an embarrassing joke within the Labour Party.

Crosland married Hilary Sarson in November 1952, divorcing after five years, though the marriage had effectively ended after a year. Crosland had numerous affairs with other women. He remarried on 7 February 1964 to Susan Catling, an American from Baltimore resident in London whom he had met in 1956, and, in contrast to his first marriage, this was very happy and content. Susan Crosland was a successful journalist and writer. There were no children of either marriage, although Crosland's second wife had two daughters from a previous marriage. He persuaded his step-daughters to abandon their elite private schools to attend Holland Park Comprehensive. Susan Crosland died on 26 February 2011.

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:How CIA Money Took the Teeth Out of Socialism	book extract	May 1988	Richard Fletcher (Author)

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