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Myer Galpern

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Galpern
DL
Galpern in 1959
Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
In office
3 February 1976 – 10 May 1979
SpeakerGeorge Thomas
Preceded byOscar Murton
Succeeded byGodman Irvine
Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
In office
28 February 1974 – 3 February 1976
SpeakerSelwyn Lloyd
Preceded byOscar Murton
Succeeded byGodman Irvine
Lord Provost of Glasgow
In office
1958–1960
Preceded byAndrew Hood
Succeeded byJean Roberts
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
10 July 1979 – 23 September 1993
Life peerage
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow Shettleston
In office
8 October 1959 – 7 April 1979
Preceded byJohn McGovern
Succeeded byDavid Marshall
Personal details
Born(1903-01-01)1 January 1903
Died23 September 1993(1993-09-23) (aged 90)
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow

Myer Galpern, Baron Galpern, DL (1 January 1903 – 23 September 1993) was a Scottish Labour Party politician.

Biography

[edit]

Born Meyer Galpern at Rutherglen Road, Hutchesontown, in the Gorbals, the son of Morris Galpern, a cabinetmaker, and Anna Talisman.[1] His parents were Russian-Jewish immigrants from Minsk, Belarus, who were married in Glasgow on 3 January 1900.[2]

Galpern was educated at Hutchesons' Boys Grammar School and the University of Glasgow before he entered the family's furnishing business.[3] He joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP), chaired its Woodside branch and served on its executive. in 1931, he was elected Chairman of the Glasgow Federation of the ILP. in 1932, he won his seat in the Shettleston (and Tollcross) ward in the east end of Glasgow after having unsuccessfully contested Partick East and Cathcart in previous years.[3] He was an Independent Labour Party councillor for the Shettleston and Tollcross ward on the Glasgow Corporation from 1932 to 1947.[4]

From his seat in the "concealed bed" beneath the public gallery...he has already impressed as a keen, alert, member who can put his points with both conciseness and candour. Prior to his success in Shettleston, Mr, Galpern - a dapper little chap - tried conclusions at Cathcart and Partick East. He has spoken in many corners throughout the country - his "play" being his party. In the Council he has the distinction of being on the General Finance Committee as well as the Markets and Streets.[4]

Galpern joined the General Finance and Markets and Streets Committees. In 1943 he was appointed Depute River Bailie, becoming a Bailie of the Burgh in November 1944. Shortly after the Second World War he was appointed Senior Bailie.[3] In 1947 he left the ILP and resigned his Shettleston seat but, having joined the Labour Party, he was re-elected as councillor for Shettleston and Tollcross in 1949.[5]

Galpern served as Convener of the Education Committee (1954-1958), before being appointed in 1958 as leader of the Labour group on Glasgow Corporation and leader of the city's administration.[3] He served as Lord Provost of Glasgow[6] from 1958 to 1960 (the first Jewish provost in Scotland).[7] He was a member of the Court of Glasgow University, a governor of the Royal College of Science and Deputy lieutenant of the Glasgow Corporation from 1958.[8]

During the 1950s, he helped to establish the Kosher School Meals Service, which was set up at Garnethill Synagogue. In May 1958, he was instrumental in the erection of the first Bayit (clubhouse) of the Glasgow Habonim, an organisation of Zionist youth.[9]

Galpern was Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Shettleston from 1959 to 1979,[10][7] becoming the first Jewish MP in Glasgow. He was a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons during his final five-year term as an MP, from 1974 to 1979.[10][7] Having been knighted in 1960,[11][7] he resigned from the Town Council, thus serving only two - rather than the normal three - years as Lord Provost. He was given a life peerage as Baron Galpern of Shettleston in the District of the City of Glasgow 10 July 1979.[12][7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Birth certificate of Meyer Galpern, 1 January 1903, Hutchesontown Registration District, Glasgow 644/11 76 – National Records of Scotland
  2. ^ Statutory Registers - Marriages 644/12 81, National Records of Scotland
  3. ^ a b c d Braber, Ben (2007). Jews in Glasgow, 1879-1939: Immigration and Integration. London, England: Vallentine Mitchell. p. 115. ISBN 9780853037101.
  4. ^ a b "'Know Your Own Councillors' series: No. LXXXIX: Myer Galpern Shettleston Ward". Glasgow Evening News. 22 July 1933.
  5. ^ "Labour's one-vote margin in Glasgow". The Herald. Glasgow. 4 May 1949.
  6. ^ "Lord Provost's Night Out with Youth". Sunday Mail (Glasgow). 7 December 1958. p. 5.
  7. ^ a b c d e Collins, Kenneth (2016). The Jewish Experience in Scotland: from Immigration to Integration. Glasgow: Scottish Jewish Archives Centre. p. 128.
  8. ^ "The Queen has approved the appointment of Mr. Myer Galpern...". Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph. 28 May 1958. p. 1.
  9. ^ Braber, Ben (2007). Jews in Glasgow, 1879-1939: Immigration and Integration. London, England: Vallentine Mitchell. p. 176. ISBN 9780853037101.
  10. ^ a b "Mr Myer Galpern (Hansard)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  11. ^ "No. 41953". The London Gazette. 12 February 1960. p. 1081.
  12. ^ "No. 47901". The London Gazette. 12 July 1979. p. 8777.
[edit]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Glasgow Shettleston
1959–1979 		Succeeded by
Civic offices
Preceded by
Andrew Hood
 Lord Provost of Glasgow
1958–1960 		Succeeded by


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