NEW BRITISH MINISTERS

Richard Rapier Stokes, Lord Privy Seal, succeeding the late Ernest Bevin; 54; a burly (225 Ibs.), good-humored, unconventional go-getter who once, when his trousers got soaked in the rain, attended an official conference in his drawers. Son of a lawyer, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, graduated with an engineering degree; entered Woolwich Royal Military Academy, saw service in France during World War I, won the rank of major; after the war, became a boilermaker; eventually headed the great British engineering firm of Ransomes & Rapier, Ltd. As the Labor government's Minister of Works (1950-51), he got the nickname of "Slap and Tickle Dick" because he told go-slow workers on the Festival of Britain "Funway" that everybody liked a "bit of slap and tickle."

Sir Hartley Shawcross, President of the Board of Trade, succeeding Harold Wilson; 49; handsome, suave lawyer; Dulwich College (in London), London School of Economics, University of Geneva; started electioneering for the Labor Party at 16; called to the bar in 1925; senior law lecturer, Liverpool University, 1927-34; served on government commissions (coal-mining inquiry, air-raid defense, etc.); chief British prosecutor at the Nurnberg trials; elected to Parliament, 1945; Attorney General, 1945-51.

Sjr Frank Soskice, Attorney General, succeeding Shawcross; 48; soft-voiced, able lawyer; Balliol College, Oxford; called to the bar, 1926; specialized in commercial law; with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (East Africa and Middle East) in World War II, ended his service as major in intelligence; elected to Parliament, 1945; helped prepare indictments for Nurnberg trials; Solicitor General (second law officer to the Crown), 1945-51; a close personal friend of Attlee.

Alfred Robens, Minister of Labor, succeeding Aneurin Bevan; 40; friendly, open-faced Lancashire man; born and educated (council school) in Manchester; at 16 became clerk and later worked up to director in a Manchester cooperative; at 24 became trade-union organizer; served on Manchester City Council; elected to Parliament, 1945; appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fuel & Power, 1947; a forceful debater, likes to work his garden to soothe his nerves in times of crisis.

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