Ernest Marples

This biography examines the life and career of the conservative politician who led the charge to reshape British Railways in the mid-twentieth century.

Ernest Marples was one of the most influential and controversial British politicians of the mid-twentieth century. As the Minister of Transport (1959–1964) he appointed Dr. Beeching chairman of British Railways and commissioned him to produce his infamous “Beeching Report”. Earlier, as Postmaster General (1957–1959), he reformed Post Office accounting systems and launched postcodes and Subscriber Trunk Dialing.

Though Marples evaded implicated in the Profumo Affair which rocked the Conservative Party, his political career was over soon afterwards. Questionable business practices, and a 1975 flight to Monaco, drew scrutiny from Inland Revenue. Beeching, unhappy under a Labour government, returned to private industry.

This biography of Marples draws on newly-available archives to examine Marples’s career as well as public and private transport policy, the growing power of the pro-road lobby, and the successful campaign to identify personal freedom with driving.