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John Mendelson

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John Mendelson
Member of Parliament
for Penistone
In office
11 June 1959 – 20 May 1978
Preceded byHenry McGhee
Succeeded byAllen McKay
Personal details
Born
John Jakob Mendelson

(1917-07-06)6 July 1917
Płock, Poland
Died20 May 1978(1978-05-20) (aged 60)
London, England
Political partyLabour
Alma materLondon School of Economics
ProfessionAcademic
Military service
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1939–1945
RankCaptain
Battles/warsWorld War II

John Jakob Mendelson (6 July 1917 – 20 May 1978) was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Penistone from 1959 until his death.

Early life

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John Jakob Mendelson was born on 6 July 1917 in Płock, Poland, to a Jewish family, of which he was the only one who survived the Holocaust.[1][2][3] He was educated in Berlin, and came to Britain to attend the London School of Economics.[4] He served in the British Army as a captain during World War II, from 1939 to 1945.[1][3] In 1949, he became a lecturer in political science at the University of Sheffield,[3] and was vice-president of Sheffield Trades and Labour Council.

Political career

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Mendelson was elected MP for Penistone, South Yorkshire at a 1959 by-election, and served on the Public Accounts Committee. He was left-wing and a member of the Tribune Group. However, he clashed with some leftists on certain issues, such as the Soviet Union, which he voiced criticism of.[3] Conversely, others accused him of being too sympathetic to the Soviet Union.[5]

Mendelson was instrumental in persuading Harold Wilson to contest the Labour Party leadership in 1963, as a candidate of the left.[3] He also introduced Tony Benn to the radical history of the Diggers and the Levellers, on which Benn drew from the 1970s onwards.[6] In the 1970s, he opposed the Wilson government's wage freeze policies.[7]

On foreign policy, Mendelson joined with Richard Crossman in 1959, in fervently opposing any efforts to give West Germany nuclear weapons.[3] He was a member of the Labour Friends of Israel.[1] Mendelson was also a staunch critic of American involvement in the Vietnam War and felt that the Wilson government should have been more vocally opposed to US foreign policy.[3][5] In 1973, Mendelson became a member of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe.[1]

Mendelson died from a heart attack in London on 20 May 1978, at the age of 60.[1][2][5] His successor at the subsequent by-election was Allen McKay.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Rubinstein, William D.; Jolles, Michael A.; Rubinstein, Hillary L., eds. (2011). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Springer Publishing. p. 662. ISBN 978-0230304666. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Mr John Mendelson, MP". The Times. 22 May 1978. p. 16.
  4. ^ "Catalogue description: JOHN MENDELSON, M.P". The National Archives.
  5. ^ a b c Aitken, Ian (22 May 1978). "MP's death adds to Labour's byelection woes". The Guardian. p. 20. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Jad Adams "Tony Benn and the radical socialist tradition", Open Democracy/Our Kingdom, 19 March 2014
  7. ^ "Mr John Mendelson". The Daily Telegraph. 22 May 1978. p. 12. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Penistone
19591978
Succeeded by