John Strachey (politician)

Strachey was born in Guildford, Surrey, on 21 October 1901, the youngest of three sons of John St Loe Strachey (1860–1927), editor of The Spectator. He was educated at Eton College (1915–19). He went up to Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1920. At Oxford he was editor, with his close friend Robert Boothby, of the Tory-leaning Oxford Fortnightly Review. Strachey's Oxford career was interrupted by ill-health – peritonitis – and he left after two years in 1922 without taking a degree. He joined the staff of The Spectator in 1922. ==Political career==

Disciple of Oswald Mosley In 1923 Strachey began writing for the Independent Labour Party (ILP) publication New Leader. In 1925 Mosley and Strachey published the "Birmingham Proposals", calling for better policies to deal with unemployment. In 1925 Strachey published Revolution by Reason, calling for money-printing, redistribution and state planning. In 1926, during the General Strike, he became editor of the ILP's Socialist Review and of The Miner. He was sympathetic to Marxist analysis, but disliked class warfare. At the 1929 general election he became the MP for Birmingham Aston and Mosley's Parliamentary private secretary. In May 1930 Mosley and Strachey resigned over the government's unemployment policies. In 1930 he visited the USSR for a second time. In February 1931 Strachey supported Mosley in founding the New Party, but he resigned in July 1931 when Mosley rejected socialism and close links with the USSR. Mosley subsequently turned to fascism. Second World War By 1938 Strachey was persuaded by Keynesianism and the New Deal of American president Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1940 he published "A Programme for Progress". He broke with the CPGB in April 1940. then as the PR officer with a bomber group. Hugh Thomas claims in his biography of Strachey that:"One day, Crossman, now in the House of Commons, came to see Strachey. The former was devoting his efforts to the Zionist cause. He had heard from his friends in the Jewish Agency that they were contemplating an act of sabotage, not only for its own purpose but to demonstrate to the world their capacities. Should this be done, or should it not? Few would be killed. But would it help the Jews? Crossman asked Strachey his advice, and Strachey, a member of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, undertook to find out. The next day in the smoking room of the House of Commons, Strachey gave his approval to Crossman. The Haganah went ahead and blew up all the bridges over the Jordan. " He was appointed Minister of Food in May 1946 and became a Privy Counsellor that same year. Another issue which he was a proponent of was the Tanganyika groundnut scheme. Strachey was an opponent of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In 1963 he supported George Brown for the party leadership; the victorious candidate, Harold Wilson, appointed him Shadow Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs. ==Death==

Strachey died in Marylebone, London, on 15 July 1963, after a spinal operation, aged 61. ==Publications==

• Revolution by Reason (1925) • ''Workers' Control in the Russian Mining Industry'', (1928) • The Coming Struggle for Power (1932) – in which he advocated reason, science and culture • Unstable Money, John Day (1933) • The Menace of Fascism (1933) – calling for militant resistance and arguing that fascism was based on the defence of private property • The Nature of Capitalist Crisis (1935) • The Theory and Practice of Socialism (1936) – described by ODNB as "the most important book ever published by the Left Book Club" • What Are We to Do? (1938) • Why You Should be a Socialist (1938) – which sold 200,000 copies within two months of publication • A Programme for Progress (1940) • Digging for Mrs. Miller: Some Experiences of an Air-Raid Warden in London (1941) • A Faith to Fight For (1941) • Post D (1941/1942) • ''Labour's task'' (1951) • Contemporary Capitalism (1956) – a blend of Keynesian and Marxist analysis, in which he argued that there was an inherent conflict between capitalism and democracy • The End of Empire (1959) • The pursuit of peace (1960) • On the Prevention of War (1962) – advocating deterrence theory rather than unilateral disarmament • The Strangled Cry (1962) – a critique of communism • "The Challenge of Democracy" (1963) ==See also==