MR BEVIN’S DEATH

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26398, 17 April 1951, Page 7

MR BEVIN’S DEATH

Early Election Held Likely

(Rec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, April 16. The sudden death of Mr Ernest Bevin has revived talk of a British General Election later this year. - Some morning newspapers to-day i speculated on a possible Cabinet reI shuffle and reported a growing split ! within the Labour Party over the 'Budget introduced last week by the I Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr 'Hugh Gaitskell). The “Daily Telegraph” said Mr Bevin’s death left a power vacuum within the Labour Party. Mr Attlee must now keep the balance between embittered rivalries between the Foreign Secretary (Mr Herbert Morrison) and the Minister of Labour (Mr Aneurin Bevan) without the support of Mr Ernest Bevin. Party unity was weakened by Mr Bevin’s death and with the loss of his friend and supporter. Mr Attlee might feel reluctant to undertake alone the struggle of keeping an uneasy team together in a tense Parliamentary situation for longer than was strictly necessary. The “Daily Express” said many Socialist politicians in close touch with I the Cabinet believed that an election i would come in the autumn. 1 The “Daily Mail” said a far-reach-ing reconstruction of the Government was being forced on Mr Attlee. His Majesty the King, in a message to Mrs Bevin yesterday, said: ‘The Queen and I heard .with deep regret the news of Mr Bevin’s death. We send you our sincere sympathy in your loss. He spent his life in the service of his fellow countrymen, who remember him with gratitude and reject.”

Mr Bevin will be cremated on Wednesday after a simple service attended only by family friends and his closest associates. A memorial service will be held in London next week.