In the eleventh of our series on meetings with figures from labour history, Jane Donaldson encounters co-operator, government minister and peer A.V. Alexander.

My place of work at the Co-op Archives in Holyoake House in Manchester is among many buildings in an area still known sometimes as the Co-operative Quarter and I am surrounded by collections which tell the history of the co-operative movement.

Holyoake House, built by the Co-operative Union (now Co-ops UK) was, and still is, a place of education, support and where support can be found for co-operative enterprise with specialised knowledge and expertise, to grow the co-operative economy and create a fairer society. Surrounded by archives, books and some artefacts, when there are no readers or colleagues in, it can be a quiet place where I can learn more about the names past and present in the co-op movement. I often wonder who walked down these corridors and who I would have seen working at desks, using the library, furthering their education by taking courses in the Co-op College, teaching, planning and developing ideas, writing for the Co-op News and undertaking the many social activities.

Among many others, I keep coming across A.V. Alexander as a figure looming large in the co-op movement and politics. Albert Victor Alexander, later Earl Alexander of Hillsborough (1885-1965), Labour and Co-operative politician, First Lord of the Admiralty and Minister of Defence, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, served in the cabinets of Ramsay MacDonald, Attlee and Churchill, was a member of the Cabinet Delegation to India and Paris Peace Conference in 1946, a supporter of working classes and a figure in many proposals and developments within the co-operative movement. If I met him, I would ask, ‘Why, Mr A.V. Alexander, are you not as well-known as others? Is it as simple as the co-operative movement being more important than the individual? Is that why there has been little written about you?’

A.V. Alexander was born 1 May 1885 in Weston-Super-Mare. His father died soon after his birth and his mother provided for the family by building a successful business. He left formal education at thirteen, not wanting to burden his family with having to pay, but when he later joined the Weston Co-operative Society, he developed an active interest in politics and was able to continue his education at evening classes provided by the society. He worked for many years for the movement including in the propaganda department of the Co-operative Union.

Searching for archives brings up a few collections at various repositories. We have some personal records, photographs, he is mentioned within the many different collections that we have and I have seen him in a film produced by the propaganda department speaking to the nation about the importance of co-operation in fighting fascism. In the film he sits behind a microphone, his hair greased back, his round glasses on his round face and his plummy tones contrasting against the working-class accents of the rest of the characters portrayed in the film. A bit of a caricature.

One of the seven co-operative principles that define how a co-op operates is that is offers education and training to all involved, so they can develop the co-op and promote the benefits of co-operation. What does he think of the move by the Co-op Party to Bringing Co-operation back into the National Curriculum?

He was a self-taught pianist, a singer of music hall songs and no doubt of the many songs sung throughout the movement at congress events and gatherings. He reportedly performed a number of musical hall songs and, following a dare, sang The Red Flag at a farewell dinner before a Cabinet Mission to India given by the Viceroy, Lord Wavell. Would he sing today and where would he sing?

He must be proud that the Labour Co-op Party now has 43 MPs. He became parliamentary secretary to the Co-operative Congress in November 1920, moving on to being an MP within two years and a Government Minister a year later. After an approach from the Co-operative Party in Sheffield Alexander was returned as the Labour and Co-operative member for Sheffield Hillsborough in the general election of November 1922, which led to a junior post in the first Labour government in January 1924. In June 1929 he entered the cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty.

Alexander left an impressive legacy – and just as I write this, a researcher has mentioned him in the work they are doing. I would like to ask him much more about his life and achievements and what his thoughts are of the movement today.

Jane Donaldson is Archivist at the Co-op Archives in Manchester

You can read all the Class Encounters in this series here.