Manny Shinwell junior minister) for his lack of zeal about further nationalisation. Shinwell was demoted to Secretary of State for War (Minister for the Army, but no longer a full member of the Cabinet) a position which he held until 1950. He was a vigorous War Minister, who got on well with the Army and was seen as jingoistic. In November 1947 a report from MI5 alleged that Shinwell had passed secret information to a man named "Stanley", who had passed it on to Zionist paramilitary group, the Irgun. Shinwell knew self-styled "contact man" Sidney Stanley, whom he had approached for help
Manny Shinwell gained national notoriety through his involvement in the Glasgow 40 Hours' Movement. This movement culminated in clashes between police and protesters in Glasgow's George Square in January 1919, in which he was alleged to have been involved. He was afterwards tried for incitement to riot and was sentenced to five months' imprisonment in Calton Jail, Edinburgh. An Independent Labour Party (ILP) member, he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Linlithgowshire in West Lothian at the 1922 general election. In 1924 he was Secretary for Mines (not a Cabinet-level post) in the First Labour Government. He lost his seat