Labour's visionary - Godfrey Gideon

Desmond Hirchfield was born in 1913 and became a senior partner in the accounting firm, "Heskeath, Hardy and Hirchfield". He was not only a financial "fixer" but a man with a strong social conscience, and during the 1960s and 70s became the confidant, both of Harold Wilson and leading Labour figures of that time and was also the man the Unions turned to to put their financial affairs in order.;Hirchfield's range of friends stretched from Wilson and Callaghan to major union figures such as Scanlon and Gunter. Nye Bevan was an early friend, but he also worked well with Gaitskell. He believed capital and Labour had a common interest and should act as one and much of his professional life was given up to achieving that aim.;Outside that life he was equally busy. In 1951 he married Bronia, who had come to England from Eastern Europe, and they were a formidable couple on the Labour Party social circuit. He was a keen artist, whose work was exhibited and widely collected. He also did much work for Jewish orphanages and the United Nations childrens fund - while his party trick was to smoke a cigarette through his navel!