We would all do well to remember the legacy of Birmingham’s great statesman, Joseph Chamberlain

In the entrance to the committee rooms at the Houses of Parliament, in an area where photography is banned, there is a statue to a great Parliamentarian, campaigner and reformer – Birmingham MP Joseph Chamberlain.

I’m really not certain whether this is the only statue of “Old Joe.” Yes, the clock at the University of Birmingham is named after him. There is the Chamberlain Memorial Fountain in Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, of course, but so many people think that is named for his more famous (or perhaps infamous?) son, Neville, him of the “I am holding in my hand a piece of white paper” fame.

Neville got a bit of a bad press in his time. His apparent “appeasement” bought us time to start to re-arm the country in the late 1930s, but it’s his father, Joseph Chamberlain, I’d like to focus on today.

Politically, he was a Tory, and his achievements are recognised to this day across the political spectrum, even if the news media seem rather less enamoured or aware. Maybe it would be different if what he did in Birmingham was done in London or Manchester?

Chamberlain got rid of Birmingham’s slums

For it was the actions of Joseph Chamberlain that cleared the slums of the city, improved its sanitation and made the city an exemplar for a modern industrial powerhouse, giving rise to its status as the city of 1,000 trades. Brum became the template for others, and all in a manner that sought to respect and protect its citizens. Style and substance.

The few back-to-back houses that remain, adjacent to the Hippodrome and preserved these days by the National Trust, gives us just a taste of what life was like in Birmingham and other industrial cities that expanded in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution. 

Old Joe wanted something better for the citizens of Birmingham, though, and took steps to improve living standards for the workforce of our great city and their families.

Old Joe’s home is still there

His family home, Highbury, is still there in Moseley. These days it’s owned by the city and it was actually used as the mayoral offices for a while when the council house was undergoing renovation. 

The inventor of social mobility

It remains a testament to a man who was the originator of social mobility and justice and in an era where today’s politicians all seem to fall short of the ideal and disappoint, Old Joe stands there in the Palace of Westminster as a silent sentinel as they move past him to attend committee meetings. 

Oh the irony of these smartphone-addicted, 21st-century go-getters scuttling unwittingly past the embodiment of an MP whose legacy far outweighs their own.

So, next time you are in Chamberlain Square, take a moment not only to admire the fountain, the town hall, the Council House and art gallery, but to remember ‘Old Joe’ – a great and understated Briton who we can all be proud of.