Bevin, Ernest (1881–1951), a British statesman. As a young man he was a truck driver in Bristol. He later helped form, and became general secretary of, the Transport and General Workers' Union. He was chairman of the General Council of Trades Union Congress, 1936–37. In 1940, Bevin was elected to Parliament on the Labour ticket. He was a severe critic of Prime Minister Chamberlain's appeasement policy. In May, 1940, Bevin was made minister of labour in the Churchill war cabinet. He was foreign minister, 1945–51, during which time he helped form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Shortly before his death, he was made lord privy seal.