Cripps, Sir (Richard) Stafford

Cripps, Sir (Richard) Stafford (1889-1952), British lawyer and political leader, born in London, and educated at University College (now part of the University of London). During World War I he served with the Red Cross in France. After the war he became a member of the British Labour party, and in 1930 he was appointed Solicitor-General in the second British Labour government. The following year he was elected to the House of Commons. An active socialist and an advocate of united action by all the left-wing political parties in Great Britain, he became executive head of the Labour party in 1937. In 1940, after the outbreak of World War II, he was appointed ambassador to the USSR. He left that post in February 1942 to become Lord Privy Seal and leader of the House of Commons. On a special mission to India in March-April 1942, he failed to secure Indian support of the British war effort. He served as minister of aircraft production from 1942 to 1945, President of the Board of Trade from 1945 to 1947, and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1947 to 1950. He took the lead in socializing major industries and public utilities, and endeavoured to reorganize production to regain a favourable British position in world markets and stop the drain on British gold reserves.