PARAGON REVIEW

Issue 5

Ben Parkin: exposer of Rachmanism

It is not unusual for backbench MPs denied or not wanting government office to throw themselves into campaigns which make them just as famous as they might have been had they held high office. This was certainly the case with Ben Parkin and his fight against the rent racketeers of 1950s and 1960s London. Hilary Marsh, an archivist in the Brynmor Jones Library, examines the life and work of this unusual man.

Amongst the modern political papers held in the Brynmor Jones Library those of Ben Parkin MP have recently been listed. A Labour member for 24 years he is, perhaps, best known for his diligent efforts to expose the activities of Peter Rachman and other notorious landlords of inner London. He coined the phrase 'Rachmanism'. His surviving papers reflect this interest and include a series of files relating to housing conditions and financial material which he collected concerning unscrupulous private landlords. His other major interest, German re-armament after the Second World War, is documented. There is also a series of correspondence files covering 1953 to 1968 and material from constituency and national levels of the Labour Party.

Benjamin Theaker Parkin was born in 1906 in East London, the son of Captain BD Parkin. He was educated at Wycliffe College, Stroud, Gloucestershire, and then at Lincoln College, Oxford and the University of Strasbourg. He began his career as a schoolmaster, holding the post of headmaster of Stonehouse Council School, Stroud, for some years. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF), reaching the rank of Flight Lieutenant. His first marriage to Phyllis Lunt in 1929 produced two sons, Philip and Michael. However, this was dissolved in 1957 and he married Pamela Tuffnell (nee Coates) in the same year. They had one son, Nicholas.

In the general election of 1945 Ben Parkin was elected for the Stroud Division of the County of Gloucester. He was the town's first Labour MP, with a majority of 949. Boundary changes in 1950 created the Stroud and Thornbury seat which Parkin lost to the Conservative candidate, WRD Perkins, by just 28 votes. Parkin contested the seat again in 1951, this time losing by 1582 votes. In December 1953 he won a by-election at Paddington North with a majority of 2260. He remained the MP for this constituency until his sudden death on 3 June 1969. A knowledgeable and outspoken man, he was associated with the left of the Party and never held a government or opposition portfolio. However, in 1949 he was appointed by the Minister of Pensions as a member of his Central Advisory Committee. In the same year Parkin, with 64 other Labour MPs, received a formal warning from the Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) and the Government Chief Whip regarding their conduct towards the Labour Party.This followed the expulsion of two MPs and the dismissal of four parliamentary private secretaries for having voted against the Government on the Ireland Bill. During the 1960s he served on a variety of PLP committees, including that for Housing and Local Government.

His interests were varied. However, he seemed to focus on social issues, for example, housing, prostitution, unemployment and drug abuse. His maiden speech referred to the need to get the nation back to work after the damage caused by the Second World War. At this time he often asked parliamentary questions relating to the welfare issues of demobbed airmen. His interest in housing matters is evidenced in his questions regarding the state of housing in his first constituency of Stroud, as well as his campaigns on behalf of his constituents in Paddington North. He believed the poverty and deprivation witnessed in Paddington was partly caused by the series of 99-year leases which had been produced upon completion of the railway station in 1854 and were, therefore, due for renewal at that time. He sought redress for his constituents who were often tenants in poorly maintained, expensive, multiple occupancy dwellings. His application to introduce a private Bill to control slum racketeering was rejected by 208 votes to 140. In 1968 he advocated the introduction of a licensing system for landlords which switched the onus of responsibility for ensuring that improvements were carried out from the local authority to the owner. He called for measures to remove young prostitutes from the streets of Paddington. In tackling the menace of drugs he called upon the Government to take action to stop the peddling of 'purple heart' tablets amongst teenagers. He reproached the Government for not studying the 'Soho nerve centre' of the 'purple heart pill racket' sufficiently, and asked a number of parliamentary questions relating to this during late May and early June 1965.

He campaigned strongly against German re-armament and the European Defence Community, which favoured reducing national service. He published pamphlets highlighting his fears of German rearmament and also addressed a Communist-organised meeting in Brussels in 1954 which was held to protest against German rearmament. This meeting resulted in clashes between police and protesters outside the House of Commons a few days later as demonstrators supporting him gathered to lobby MPs.

Ben Parkin and child on an anti-nuclear demonstration in the early 1960s

As an MP he travelled extensively and perhaps, given the prevailing political climate, with courage. In 1947 he was part of a group of Labour MPs who visited the Soviet Union. Ostensibly tourists, on arrival they sought meetings with the country's leaders. In Moscow they discussed politics with Molotov and economics with Stalin. Parkin declared the meeting to have been very useful and hoped for an improvement in Anglo-Soviet relations. This was part of a wider trip around Eastern Europe including Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Poland. They were invited by the Socialist parties of each of the countries who wished to discuss the progress that had been made in 'reconstructing' their countries. The following year he was one of a party visiting Nigeria for three weeks to inquire into the spending of £23 million which had been allocated to the colony under the Colonial Development Act of 1945. In 1954 a group of Labour MPs, including Parkin, was invited to Prague by the People's Institute of Foreign Affairs. From there they went on to Moscow and eventually China. During January 1957 he visited Israel stopping at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where he touredth e New Hebrew University.

He was also a member of the Union of Democratic Control (UDC) which by this time had become closely involved in the independence movements, particularly within the British Empire. He sat on the Executive Committee and the Management Sub-Committee at various times during the 1950s and 1960s, holding the position of Joint Secretary with Audrey Jupp until his resignation in 1956. Copies of his pamphlets within this collection can also be found within the records of the UDC.

Parkin was not a particularly career-orientated politician, choosing instead to work tirelessly for his constituents. His major preoccupation with housing and welfare could be witnessed at every turn. Wherever possible he attempted to blame problems upon inadequate housing provision claiming that most social 'evils' would be cured if only people were able to live in promising surroundings. His relentless campaigning helped to bring about changes in the law - putting a greater onus upon landlords to maintain the standard of their properties - and increased the awareness of the reality of inner city life for the working classes. This can be linked to his wider role as a Labour politician, spreading the message of socialism and equality, and is, perhaps, his lasting legacy.

Hilary Marsh