introduction arthur ernest wicks was a labour politician and the last chairman of the london county council. he was first elected to the shoreditch metropolitan borough council in the 1950s, and became chairman of housing at a time when shoreditch had one of england's highest concentrations of municipal housing. early life and career elected to the lcc for shoreditch and finsbury in 1952, he gave his time to housing and parks. county hall, london, a labour stronghold since 1934, was a pioneering model for labour ideas and plans, including comprehensive education, school music, housing develop…