- George Wigg, Baron Wigg
George Edward Cecil Wigg, Baron Wigg PC (
November 28 ,1900 –August 11 ,1983 ) was a British politician who only served in relatively junior offices but had a great deal of influence behind the scenes, especially withHarold Wilson . Wigg served in theBritish Army for almost all his career up to his election asMember of Parliament for Dudley in 1945. He wasParliamentary Private Secretary toEmanuel Shinwell during the Attlee government.According to veteran
Press Association reporterChris Moncrieff , Wigg was unpopular with Labour MPs [http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,,1728094,00.html] but managed to use procedure to place theProfumo affair on the record in Parliament and led the pursuit of Profumo which ultimately resulted in the latter's resignation. Wigg also played an important part in the aftermath of the failed prosecution of suspected serial killerJohn Bodkin Adams by questioning in Parliament the unusual conduct of the Prosecution led by Attorney-General,Reginald Manningham-Buller . [Cullen, Pamela V., "A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams", London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006, ISBN 1-904027-19-9]Wigg was already known for passing on gossip to Labour leader Harold Wilson, and when Labour won the 1964 election Wilson appointed Wigg as
Paymaster-General . This was a cover as his real responsibilities were many and varied. He was Wilson's link to the Security Service and the Secret Intelligence Service. In November 1967, he was appointed Chairman of the Horserace Betting Levy Board (Wigg lovedhorse racing ) and left Parliament with alife peer age as Baron Wigg, of the Borough ofDudley .He had been made a Privy Councillor in 1964.
External links
* [http://archives.lse.ac.uk/dserve.exe?dsqServer=lib-4.lse.ac.uk&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo='wigg') Catalogue of the Wigg papers] at the [http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/archive/Default.htm Archives Division] of the
London School of Economics .References
succession box
title=Member of Parliament for Dudley
years=1945–1967
before=Cyril Lloyd
after=Donald Williams
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