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Hugh Gaitskell

Hugh Gaitskell, British politician and leader of the Labour Party (died 1963)

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Born
April 9, 1906
Died
January 18, 1963
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1906

About Hugh Gaitskell

Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955 until his death in 1963. An economics lecturer and wartime civil servant, he was elected to Parliament in 1945 and held office in Clement Attlee's governments, notably as Minister of Fuel and Power following the bitter winter of 1946–47, and eventually joining the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Facing the need to increase military spending in 1951, he imposed National Health Service charges on dentures and spectacles, prompting the leading left-winger Aneurin Bevan to resign from the Cabinet. With Labour in opposition from 1951, Gaitskell won bitter leadership battles with Bevan and his supporters to become the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition in 1955. Gaitskell's first political involvement came about as a result of the General Strike of 1926.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Hugh Gaitskell timeline

  1. Gaitskell's first political involvement came about as a result of the General Strike of 1926.
  2. An economics lecturer and wartime civil servant, he was elected to Parliament in 1945 and held office in Clement Attlee's governments, notably as Minister of Fuel and Power following the bitter winter of 1946–47, and eventually joining the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
  3. With Labour in opposition from 1951, Gaitskell won bitter leadership battles with Bevan and his supporters to become the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition in 1955.

The world when Hugh Gaitskell was born

Hugh Gaitskell was born in 1906. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1906

  • Best-selling bookThe Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports moment"Hitless Wonders" Chicago White Sox upset Cubs in World Series
  • Top headlineSan Francisco earthquake and fire — 3,000+ killed
  • Technology milestoneFirst radio broadcast of voice and music
  • World population~1.66B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderTheodore Roosevelt
  • U.S. population84.6M

1906 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Hugh Gaitskell's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19062026
Population84.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.