John Wheatley

Labour's first government lasted less than a year in 1924, but Wheatley, its health minister, used it to pass the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act. It gave councils a long-term subsidy to build homes for rent rather than sale, and he negotiated with building unions and employers to expand the workforce and the supply of materials. Around half a million council homes were built under the act before it was repealed in 1933, establishing council housing as a mainstream tenure.