Ernest Marples, Baron Marples

(Alfred) Ernest Marples, Baron Marples (9 December 1907 – 6 July 1978) was a British Conservative politician, who served as Postmaster General and Minister of Transport.

Marples was born at 45 Dorset Road, Levenshulme, Greater Manchester. His father had been a renowned engineering charge-hand and Manchester Labour campaigner, and his mother had worked in a local hat factory. Ernest attended Victoria Park Council School and won a scholarship to Stretford Grammar School. By the age of 14 he was already active in the Labour Movement, as well as earning money selling cigarettes and sweets to Manchester football crowds. He also played football for the YMCA team.

He worked as a miner, postman, chef, and accountant. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1941 and was medically discharged with the rank of Captain in 1944. He set up his own company of Civil Engineers (Marples, Ridgeway & Partners - Primarily road construction) with a bank loan. By 1945 he had joined the Conservative party and was elected to Parliament for Wallasey.

He joined the Government in 1957 as Postmaster General, and introduced the STD (Subscriber Trunk Dialling) telephone system which eliminated the use of operators on national phone calls. (At that time the telephone network was still under the control of the General Post Office). On 2 June 1957, he started the first draw that took place for the new Premium Bonds scheme.

As Minister of Transport (October 14 1959–October 16 1964), he brought in roadside yellow lines, parking meters and seat belts. It was also under Ernest Marples that Dr Richard Beeching was appointed chairman of the British Railways Board. After a study of railway traffic Beeching produced a report in 1963 proposing the closure of a further 6000 miles of the remaining 18000 miles of Britain's railway network. The resultant closures, most of which were carried out under the Wilson Labour Government (1964–1970), became known as the Beeching Axe. Whilst Marples was a minister his two-thirds shareholding in his road construction firm were divulged to his wife, thereby avoiding any conflict of interest[1][2][3][4][5].

He retired from the House of Commons at the February 1974 general election, and in May that year he was made a life peer as Baron Marples, of Wallasey in Cheshire.

In early 1975, Marples suddenly fled to Monaco to escape allegations of tax fraud and law-suits from former employees and tenants of his slum properties[6]. He died there in 1978.

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