In 1946 there was a referendum in Britain, which the governing party lost 52 per cent to 48 per cent. It took place in Stevenage, over the proposed 1946 New Towns Act. When Lewis Silkin, the minister in charge of the expansion of Stevenage, arrived at the railway station, he was greeted with jeers and banners declaring the town should henceforth be known as “Silkingrad”.
A report issued yesterday by Labour Together suggests Stevenage might be the most important site of the next election and Lewis Silkin, the man who put more people in Stevenage, might just be the most influential person in politics whom you have never heard of.
