William John Mckell: Boilermaker, Premier, Governor-General

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Number of Pages: 304

William McKell, the long-serving Labor Premier of New South Wales (1941-47), is in many ways the architect of the great electoral success of the ALP in NSW since the Second World War. – His political life began after the momentous 1916 split in the ALP over the conscription issue, when he became the youngest endorsed Labor candidate for the NSW state election. – Before he turned thirty he had become NSW Minister of Justice, and he eventually won the party leadership in 1939 and led the party to victory in 1941. – McKell played a central role in creating the modern NSW Labor Party, a pragmatic, electorally successful political machine. – Neville Wran described him as “perhaps the most significant political figure in the history of NSW”; like Wran, he cultivated rural as well as urban voters. – After six years as premier he accepted – controversially – Prime Minister Menzies’ invitation to become Governor General, a post he filled until 1953. He died in 1985. – This lively account of McKell’s life provides a vivid portrait of the development of this important labour movement figure, and a readable insight into New South Wales politics during a key period in twentieth century history.