Ernest Bevin

A trade union leader brought into Churchill's war cabinet without a parliamentary seat, Bevin ran the Ministry of Labour from 1940 to 1945. He organised the mobilisation of almost the whole adult population, directing workers into industry, sending conscripts to the mines as 'Bevin Boys' and bringing millions of women into war work, largely by agreement with unions rather than compulsion. He also used the job to extend joint production committees, canteens and welfare provision in factories.