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"He came out of the Valleys like a projectile" – and altered the course of British history

"He came out of the Valleys like a projectile" – and altered the course of British history

Producer, actor and writer Jonny Owen chooses Nye Bevan (1897–1960) as his history hero

York Membery

Published: September 16, 2026 at 3:30 PM

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Nye Bevan was a Welsh Labour politician best known for the key role he played, as Minister of Health, in creating the National Health Service and for his wider role in the founding of Britain’s welfare state. Bevan, the MP for Ebbw Vale from 1929–60, went on to serve as shadow foreign secretary (1956–60), and deputy leader of the Labour Party and deputy leader of the opposition (1959–60). He died in 1960, aged 62.

When did you first hear about Bevan?

He died just over 10 years before I was born, but he was such a mythical figure in south Wales, where I grew up, that I heard about him as a kid. “This was the guy,” I was told in that very Welsh way, “who invented the National Health Service.”

What kind of man was he?

Born in modern-day Blaenau Gwent, south Wales, he left school at 13 and followed his father down the pit, at a time when the Welsh coalfields were powering much of the world’s industry. Bevan, a man of great energy with a huge appetite for life, came out of the valleys “like a projectile”, and I think saw himself as a man of destiny who had been put on Earth to make the world a fairer place.

Read more | How Britain fell in love with the NHS

What made Bevan a hero?

The role he played in creating the welfare state. There was no safety net for the working classes in the Britain of Bevan’s youth. So if a woman’s husband was injured or died, she and her children could soon find themselves on the breadline, in the absence of a supportive family. Similarly, child mortality was a fact of life in the 1920s in areas like south Wales – for instance, three of my grandfather’s siblings died as children. The welfare state, imperfect as it may be, is one of his greatest legacies.

What was Bevan’s finest hour?

It’s got to be the pivotal role that he played in creating the NHS, despite the opposition of the British Medical Association among others. It took courage to force through the legislation necessary – he was branded everything from a ‘communist’ to a ‘fascist’ for wanting to create an organisation providing medical health care free at the point of need across the UK. I think he’d be disappointed by some of the ‘privatisation by stealth’ over recent decades, and the overall state of today’s NHS.

Read more | Why does Britain keep changing prime ministers? The answer lies in history

Is there anything that you don’t particularly admire about him?

Yes, the fact that he never seems to have given much consideration to his own health – smoking, drinking and eating what he wanted. I wish someone had taken him aside and said: Why does Britain keep changing prime ministers? The answer lies in history“If you don’t look after yourself, you’re not going to last.”

Can you see any parallels between Bevan’s life and your own?

I’d never compare myself to him, but he felt his background influenced everything he did, and I feel that too. Being a proud son of Merthyr Tydfil, with a similar coal-mining background in my own family, I think we’d have got on well.

What would you ask Bevan if you could meet him?

He never seems to have expressed any interest in sport, which is unusual in the valleys. So I’d ask him if he was a sports fan – and, if so, what sport he most enjoyed.

Jonny Owen has appeared in TV shows such as Shameless and My Family, and won a Welsh Bafta for the documentary The Aberfan Disaster, which he co-produced. Britain’s Murder Map with Vicky McClure and Jonny Owen is streaming on History Play

This article was first published in the September 2026 issue of HistoryExtra Magazine

Authors

York MemberyJournalist

York Membery is a regular contributor to BBC History Magazine, the Daily Mail and Sunday Times among other publications. York, who lives in London, worked on the Mirror, Express and Times before turning freelance. He studied history at Cardiff University and the Institute of Historical Research, and has a History PhD from Maastricht University.