Foot steps on political ladder

The Post reported on the early political career of a future leader of the Labour Party.

“Mr Michael Foot (47), who was a close friend of Mr Aneurin Bevan, is almost certain to be Ebbw Vale’s next MP. He was chosen last night as Labour’s prospective Parliamentary candidate for the by-election – and the division is regarded as a safe Labour seat.

He was selected from seven nominees after a meeting of the Ebbw Vale Labour Party’s divisional committee, lasting nearly four hours. But his selection for Ebbw Vale, though it will delight the left wing of the Labour Party, will not be quite so warmly welcomed by the right wing.”

Indeed, the right wing of the party would ultimately break off and form the Social Democratic Party, in part leading to Foot’s downfall as leader in 1983.