Exeter

RESEARCH

A

Spence, Saxon CBE (1929- )

Biography

  • Born 1929
  • Exeter City Council
  • Devon County Council
  • Leader of Devon County Council Labour Group

Saxon Spence, CBE, was born in Middlesex into a left-wing family background. Actively involved in politics from the mid-1940s joining the Labour Party in l945, Saxon moved to Devon in 1963 and became an active member of Exeter Labour Party. Saxon was elected to Exeter City Council in 1972-74. Saxon was elected to the shadow Devon County Council in 1973 for the Exeter No 6 Division serving until 1977, and again for that Division in 1981 until 1985. From 1985 to 2005, Saxon served on the Council for Pinhoe and Whipton (Exeter) Division, and then until 2013 as local Devon County Councillor for Pinhoe and Mincinglake (Exeter). She led the Devon County Labour Group from 1985-2013.  Saxon was awarded Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2000 for services to local government.

Transcript of clip

  • The history of Labour’s youth movement is very interesting because I started off in the Labour League of Youth when I was sixteen and then we had Young Socialists, and I was in the Young Socialists, and then for a period I was in my twenties and thirties and I was still the youngest member of my particular Labour Party  . . because we did have a haemorrhage of young people, in fact my brother who is nine years younger than me became a Liberal, so  we somehow didn’t manage to keep a viable youth movement.

Interview Summary

Left-wing political background of family (0.30); earliest political memories of London Co-Operative Society in the 1930s (2.43); moving to Devon in 1963 (4.00) and becoming active  in  the Exeter Labour Party (5.00) compromises in politics, especially as Labour politician in Conservative Devon (06.13) and challenges to Labour Party from Liberal Democrats in Devon (07.50) increasing over time since 1973; becoming a councillor for the first time in 1972, and the difference in culture in the county council l pre-1974 with many titled councillors (09.55); challenges facing women in local politics (11.20); poor results for Labour in 1977 (13.30); election of Gwyneth Dunwoody in 1966 (16.55), and stopping Mike Thomas of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) (18.10); electoral campaigning over the years (20.00), confidentiality and integrity of voting at polling stations (21.09),  party finance, bombing of Labour party office during the Second World War (27.20); impressions of Labour Party members in Devon in 1960s (31.25) and effect of Exeter as a University city on the makeup of the Labour Party there (34.04), Plymouth including its creation as a unitary authority (36.00) and granting of unitary status to Torbay (37.20), youth politics within the Labour Party, including at UCL, Ealing, and Pembrokeshire (40.50), community participation and engagement in politics, and influence of family on this (46.00), relative lack of national politicians produced by Devon  (52.30),  effectiveness of South West Regional Assembly (SWRA) that operated from 1999-2008 (54.00), railway network in Devon, including Dawlish and Pinhoe (55.58), boundary changes in Exeter (59.20), Labour party’s relationship with other political parties in Devon  (1.01.10), including relationship between Labour and SDP-Liberal Alliance in mid 1980s, party and individual within politics in Devon (1.04.53), lack of influence of religion on politics (1.06.52), inspirational role models in politics, including Clement Atlee (1.08.39), specialising in education within politics (1.09.56)

  • Listen here to hear Saxon Spence CBE discuss Labour youth politics.

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