Clement Davies J. Graham Jones examines the offer of a Cabinet position to the Liberal leader Clement Davies in October 1951. Churchill,Churchill, ClementClement DaviesDavies andand thethe MinistryMinistry ofof EducationEducation
dward Clement Davies (–), leader of abandoned a promising, well remunerated career as a Ethe Liberal Party from until , has been top ranking barrister in order to become a variously described as ‘an underestimated Welshman backbench politician, Davies was already beginning and politician’, and as ‘one of the unknown great to rue his decision: ‘Losing briefs and wasting my men of modern times’. Davies, it is true, remains one time here [in the House of Commons] – it is really of the most enigmatic and puzzling of twentieth-cen- appalling. Sometimes I wish I had stuck to my tury front-line British politicians. proper job, but ambition is a terrible thing’. Small Born at Llanfyllin in mid-Wales in February wonder, therefore, that in his ever increasing disillu- , Davies achieved brilliant academic success as sionment with political life and with pressing finan- an undergraduate in law at Trinity College, Cam- cial problems, Davies decided to accept a prestigious, bridge, and was called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn in well remunerated position as legal director of Lever . Soon afterwards, he established a highly suc- Brothers, at the enormous annual salary of cessful and lucrative legal practice at London. He £,. It was widely assumed at the time that this held a number of prestigious official positions after new departure would lead to his retirement from ac- the outbreak of the First World War, and took silk at tive politics, but a last minute change of heart by his a relatively young age in . Although Davies had new employers allowed Davies to stand for re-elec- taken a passionate interest in political life ever since tion to parliament in October , when he was boyhood, and had indeed been approached to stand returned unopposed as a National Liberal follower as a Liberal parliamentary candidate as early as , of Sir John Simon, as again happened in November he did not stand for parliament until the ‘We Can . Conquer Unemployment’ general election of Throughout the s, however, Clement Davies, May when he was elected MP for his native a National Liberal, rarely participated in Commons’ Montgomeryshire. Thereafter he was to hold the debates, displayed but scant enthusiasm for the cut- seat continuously until his death in March . and-thrust of political life, and devoted much of his Initially Clement Davies was a warm supporter of time and energy to his duties for Lever Brothers. He David Lloyd George and his ambitious, radical poli- has rightly been described as, in that period, ‘almost cies for tackling unemployment and the array of so- the archetypal semi-detached politician’, one who cial and economic ills facing a troubled nation in the did not occupy the centre-ground of political life late s – bold Keynesian initiatives which were until – when he became chairman of the crystallised in the famous ‘Yellow Book’ Britain’s In- ‘Vigilantes Group’, a cross-party group of MPs who dustrial Future published in . Soon afterwards, urged the abandonment of Neville Chamberlain’s however, the Liberal leader’s dramatic volte face over appeasement policies in the face of the ever more the second Labour Government’s Coal Mines Bill in menacing threat of the dictators Hitler and Musso- heralded the parting of the ways. Only fifteen lini. The Vigilante Group’s influence increased rap- short months after he had somewhat reluctantly idly after the outbreak of war in September ,
6 Journal of Liberal Democrat History 27: Summer 2000 with Davies himself emerging as one of Only days later, Clement Davies had, the most vocal and effective critics of perhaps unexpectedly, been chosen the ailing National Government. ‘chairman’ (if not leader) of the twelve Clement Davies eventually resigned Liberal MPs who had survived their from the Government in December, party’s near decimation at the polls in and played an important role in the re- . They had selected their new moval from office of prime minister ‘chairman’ by the bizarre expedient of Neville Chamberlain in May and requesting each Liberal MP to leave the his replacement by Churchill. It would room in turn while the rest discussed seem that Davies shared some rapport his leadership potential. Davies faced with Churchill who may have offered an agonisingly difficult political and him minor governmental office and a personal challenge. Already years of viscountcy during . In March age (and thus the oldest Liberal leader he resigned as a director of Unilever, re- since Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman entered political life energetically, now in ), he was totally unprepared and veering sharply leftwards in the politi- untrained for the experience of leader- cal spectrum as he joined the ‘Radical ship, now thrust upon him by the shock Action’ group within his party and defeat of his predecessor as leader, Sir zealously endorsed the left-wing pro- Archibald Sinclair, at Caithness and posals of the famous Beveridge Report Sutherland. His eleven followers were Edward Clement Davies: signed photo published in . indeed ‘a motley group’, most of them The policies which Clement Davies re-elected by only a hair’s breadth in re- Liberals as the route to their political now advocated in his political speeches mote rural constituencies in the Celtic recovery and salvation. Some floated were increasingly socialistic, including fringe (Wales, Scotland and the west the notion of an anti-Socialist centre even partial nationalisation of the land. country) and totally lacking cohesion party (potently reminiscent of the The Beveridge initiative was, he in- and a common political philosophy. – Coalition Government) as the sisted, a development of traditional Three of them – Professor W. J. means of excluding Labour from office. Lloyd George policies to reduce unem- Gruffydd (the University of Wales), Churchill was himself an avid propo- ployment and improve living stand- Major Gwilym Lloyd-George (Pem- nent of Liberal-Conservative collabo- ards. At a pre-election meeting con- brokeshire) and T. L. Horabin (North ration, and had displayed heartfelt re- vened within his Montgomeryshire Cornwall) – were already displaying gret at the departure of his Liberal col- constituency in June , his position signs of potential disloyalty, although leagues from the Coalition Govern- was unequivocal: the last named still became the party’s ment in the spring of (Gwilym I stand on the side of the progressive. If chief whip in the difficult political cir- Lloyd-George alone had remained). two parties such as Labour and Con- cumstances of . Clement Davies’ During the election campaign he had servative were equally balanced then I loyalty to the Simonite Liberal camp broadcast to the nation: would vote Labour. Members of the throughout the s, and some of the Between us and the orthodox Socialists Labour Party and myself can walk side there is a great doctrinal gulf which by side for a long way. There are many idiosyncratic sentiments which he had yawns and gapes … There is no such things on which we agree. expressed during the war years, led to tension and unease, even dissension, gulf between the Conservative and Na- He consequently faced only a Con- tional Government I have formed and servative opponent in Montgomery- among his colleagues. It had been the Liberals. There is scarcely a Liberal shire in July , and was even en- thought likely that he would resign his sentiment which animated the great dorsed by the local Transport and Gen- seat in order to pursue his professional Liberal leaders of the past which we do not inherit and defend. eral Workers’ Union, as ‘the only pro- and business interests full-time, and it gressive candidate’ standing in the divi- was widely known that psychological Some younger, progressive, more radi- sion. In the event, Davies was re- problems had already compelled him to cal Conservative MPs such as Harold elected with a majority of more than spend short periods in a nursing home. Macmillan and Quintin Hogg, mem- , votes as Attlee’s Labour Party In his first speech to the House of bers of a group of ‘Tory Reformers’, swept to power with a huge landslide Commons as Liberal Party ‘Chairman’, went further, the latter asserting that majority at the polls. He remained true Davies remained positive: ‘We can all there was ‘no striking difference’ on do- to the line which he had taken during rejoice at the end of the Tory regime, at mestic policies between themselves and the election campaign: the end of reaction and chaos… We the Liberals. He issued an invitation to wish this Government well’. While he the Liberal MPs: ‘If Liberals would only I pledge myself – as long as the Labour Government works for a permanent himself seemed to stand firmly on the come over into Macedonia and help us peace throughout the world, and left, prepared to support the new La- (or come over somewhere and help works for the ordinary common man, bour Government, Churchill and his somebody) the policy we both believe I pledge myself to work alongside that fellow Tory leaders, shocked at the scale in might get somewhere. There is no Government. of their defeat at the polls, looked to the doubt that we would, together, capture
Journal of Liberal Democrat History 27: Summer 2000 7 re-organise the Liberals in Montgom- of Parliamentary extinction – Or do you eryshire soon’. think this an exaggerated fear? … What can By it did indeed appear as if a party of do? Containing at most Davies’s unequivocal stand and tireless “effectives”?? (& even these not always assiduity were yielding positive divi- agreed on major issues?)’. She tended to dends. The Liberal Party seemed to be advocate an electoral pact with the To- emerging from the political doldrums ries as the route to achieving the desper- and re-asserting itself as a major party of ately needed electoral reform which state. Davies voiced his determination alone would guarantee Liberal survival. to the Council of the Party Organisa- Undeterred, Lady Megan publicly de- tion that the Liberals should put up at picted the manifold difficulties facing least candidates at the next general the Labour Government as a welcome election: ‘If we are an independent opportunity for a Liberal breakthrough: Party, we will have no truck with any- ‘Must this country … be condemned to body, we will stand on our own two the choice of two evils?’. feet. We will fight in constituencies. As the general election approached, Turn these words into action, or ac- Clement Davies studiously distanced knowledge defeat here and now’. himself from both the major political the Conservative Party’. No Liberal By this time his attitude to the Attlee parties. His tentative support for the MP responded to Hogg’s initiative, and Government (whose honeymoon pe- Attlee Government was long gone. Be- Clement Davies was adamant that no riod had manifestly come to an end) fore the end of he had criticised formal pact or informal collaboration had hardened considerably. The excep- the Labour Party to his constituents: with either of the other parties could tionally hard winter of – had led Everything is being organised from the be countenanced. to a severe economic crisis which, centre and the centre is a small oligar- Davies’s strength of character and in- Davies was convinced, had been exac- chy. Freedom is threatened by conscrip- ner resources were stretched to the erbated by governmental failure to de- tion for the Army in peacetime and now by the direction of labour in in- limit as the Attlee Governments ran vise an effective overall strategy to bal- dustry. Hitler and Mussolini began their their course. Many of his parliamentary ance the national economy. He spelled appeal to the people as Socialists. Is this colleagues were potentially disloyal, dis- out his conviction to a Liberal Party free country passing into national so- playing highly inconsistent, even bi- rally at the Royal Albert Hall in No- cialism on the road to a police state, and zarre, voting records in the lobbies of vember: ‘Worst of all politically, we are are the spiritual rights of man to be sac- the House of Commons. There was today in the hands of political bank- rificed on the altar of materialism erected to false and foreign gods? general Liberal support for the rupts dodging from one subterfuge to During the long run-up to the enactments of the Attlee Government another… There is a complete lack of general election he spared no effort to from to , as the early nation- true statesmanship’. Davies’s spirited pinpoint the position of the Liberals: alisation programmes, the establishment stand against the Conservatives was of the National Health Service and the buttressed by the unwavering support Do not run away with the idea that Lib- eralism provides the middle way be- granting of Indian and Burman inde- of the party’s elder statesman Lord tween the other two. Still less that it is a pendence were warmly applauded. Samuel, a former party leader, who compromise between them. Liberalism Davies portrayed the setting up of the shared a harmonious relationship with is a distinct creed – a distinct philosophy: NHS and the introduction of social in- his successor, and who proclaimed that distinct from Socialism, from Commu- surance as the implementation of fun- the Conservative party had been nism, and from Conservatism. damental Liberal policies, asserting, ‘It strengthened in each successive genera- Although he battled valiantly to portray would be ignoble to hinder that work tion by absorbing into its ranks Liberal the Liberal creed as a positive philosophy, merely because it happens to be in the defectors: ‘For my part I will have no quite distinct from both Socialism and hands of other people to promote’. share in leading a third swift glide down Conservatism, the omni-present danger He insisted that many of the enact- the slippery slope to extinction’. was that he might alienate both the right ments of the Attlee Government were At the end of November the Liberal and left wings of his tiny party. ‘No one simply ‘cashing in on the hard work of Party issued a statement declaring that it knows better than you what a hard the Liberal Party over forty years’. In was the duty of all true Liberals to ‘stand struggle it is,’ Davies had written de- response to rumbles from his constitu- firm against the Conservative over- spairingly to his predecessor Sir Archi- ency that he might reach some kind of tures’. Not all prominent Liberals con- bald Sinclair in February . He was understanding with local Conserva- curred. Lady Violet Bonham Carter, heartened somewhat by the response at tives, he was unrelenting: ‘So long as I Asquith’s daughter, firmly lodged on the party rallies and the substantial financial am their representative in Parliament party’s right wing and a close personal contributions which came to hand, but and the leader of the Liberal Party, there friend of Winston Churchill’s, wrote to still felt, ‘I have no end of trouble here as will be no union with the Conserva- Lady Megan Lloyd George to express you can well understand.’ The party tives in Montgomeryshire. I intend to her alarm, ‘One must face the possibility was still wracked by deep rooted differ-
8 Journal of Liberal Democrat History 27: Summer 2000 ences of opinion over possible co-opera- In his further reply Davies dismissed sion in the absence of a Conservative tion with the Conservatives, and over Churchill’s lengthy epistle as ‘facetious contender, while the Liberals ran no the advice on voting which should be and evasive’, deploring the fact that the candidate at Huddersfield West. At Dun- given to Liberal sympathisers in con- To ry leader was prepared to support dee, too, a near-formal merger of the lo- stituencies where there was no Liberal ‘what we Liberals rightly regard as an cal Liberal and Conservative Parties was candidate. As the election finally unworthy subterfuge’. Churchill in foiled only when Liberal Party Head- loomed in the early days of , Davies turn wrote on Davies’s letter, ‘No fur- quarters at London put up their own was privately most pessimistic about his ther answer’. candidate independently of the Dundee own prospects and those of his fellow When he was adopted at Woodford Liberal Association. Liberal MPs from Wales. on January, however, Churchill re- Generally the outcome of the Early in January Attlee announced turned to the subject of: election was again disappointing for the that Parliament would be dissolved on … the very small and select group of Liberals. Although Clement Davies was February, and that polling day would Liberal leaders who conceived them- re-elected comfortably in Mont- follow on the rd. On the day follow- selves the sole heirs of the principles gomeryshire with a majority of , ing the Prime Minister’s statement, and traditions of Liberalism, and be- votes, and four other Liberal MPs from lieved themselves to have the exclusive Liberal headquarters issued an un- copyright of the word ‘Liberal’. This su- Wales held on – Roderic Bowen equivocal statement to quell the ru- per select attitude finds an example in (Cardiganshire), Lady Megan Lloyd mours which persisted in political cir- the exclusion of Lady Violet Bonham George (Anglesey), Sir Rhys Hopkin cles: ‘In spite of statements to the con- Carter and, I may say, of Sir Archibald Morris (Carmarthenshire) and Emrys O. trary, it is still being suggested that the Sinclair from the four broadcasts the Roberts (Merionethshire) – the party Liberal Party in some parts of the coun- Liberals are making between now and polled only . million votes nationally, the Poll. In Lady Violet Bonham Carter try is allying itself with the Conserva- we have not only a Liberal of unim- lost deposits out of , and re- tive party. This is not so. The Liberal peachable loyalty to the party, but one turned only nine MPs. Davies wrote de- Party emphasises that it is fighting the of the finest speakers in the country. spairingly to Sinclair, ‘The position is far coming election as an entirely inde- Her speech against Socialism, which and away more difficult than it has been pendent force with at least candi- was so widely read two months ago, re- since the ’ Parliament’. Within called the style of old and famous days. dates in the field.’ But her voice must not be heard on the weeks his health, never robust, had bro- A long and protracted wrangle en- air on this occasion. ken down yet again, and he was com- sued between the Liberals and Con- pelled to retire from public life for sev- Four days later he returned to the same servatives over the use of the title theme in response to Liberal charges that eral weeks. Persistent rumours ensued ‘United Liberal and Conservative Asso- the Conservatives had attempted to re- that he was likely to accept a position ciation’ by at least four local Conserva- duce their share of election broadcasts: outside politics or else to retire to the tive associations. ‘Is it so much to ask’, House of Lords, conjecture which was When I saw how the Liberal group had wrote Clement Davies to Churchill, distributed their broadcasts, I offered, emphatically repudiated. ‘that the Conservative Party should with the full consent of my colleagues, Davies soldiered on to face an array of fight under its own name, or at least un- one of the Conservative twenty-minute political difficulties. The re-elected Attlee der a name which does not clash with broadcasts to Lady Violet Bonham Government declared its unwillingness to that of another Party which is recog- Carter. This offer was made, of course, consider a measure of electoral reform, without any conditions whatever. Lady nised throughout the world?’ Since the and a number of influential Liberal peers Violet was perfectly free to say whatever Conservative leader had personally ap- she pleased. She was dissuaded from ac- voiced their intention of joining the proved the use of the term ‘Liberal- cepting this not ungenerous offer by the Conservative’, Davies expressed his in- Clement Davies group. The public will tention of publishing forthwith his let- not, therefore, hear on the broadcast any ter of protest in the national press. clear exposition of the view held by the majority of Liberals, who, while remain- Churchill at one drafted a debating re- ing loyal to the Liberal Party, are strongly ply which was masterly in its combina- opposed to Socialism. tion of cool insolence and persiflage: In spite of these spirited exchanges at I thank you for your kindness in writ- leadership level between Davies and ing to me amid your many cares. As Churchill, it is evident that at provincial you were yourself for eleven years a National Liberal and in that capacity centres such as Sheffield and Bristol in- supported the Governments of Mr formal arrangements were made be- Baldwin and Mr Neville Chamberlain, tween the local Liberal and Conservative I should not presume to correct your parties in relation to both municipal and knowledge of the moral, intellectual parliamentary elections. Most spectacu- and legal aspects of adding a prefix or a larly of all, a quasi-formal pact was struck suffix to the honoured name of Lib- eral. It has certainly often been done at Huddersfield where Liberal Donald before by honourable and distin- Wade was able to capture the West divi- guished men.
Journal of Liberal Democrat History 27: Summer 2000 9 Conservatives. By the spring, Sir Lloyd George and Emrys O. Roberts – did so to abort a pact at Dundee). An al- Archibald Sinclair, Lord Samuel and the supported by Dingle Foot and Philip liance between the Liberals and Con- elderly Liberal academic Gilbert Murray Hopkins, who represented divisions in servatives, he went on, ‘would never be (a distinguished Oxford classicist) had all the west country, began a rearguard ac- permitted by the rank-and-file of the reluctantly concluded that the only viable tion against what they regarded as Liberal Party… There is throughout the route ahead lay in an agreement with the Clement Davies’s inclination ‘to veer to- country a body of Liberal voters, of all Conservatives. wards the Tories’. ages, who will not vote Conservative’. Sinclair argued The concern He was not prepared even to counte- that only an ‘ar- ‘My own position is one of the left wing nance any alliance which called into rangement with of almost supine was understand- question the independence of the Lib- the Conservative able. There were eral Party so that ‘there can be, there- party – an arrange- weakness for if I give full indications that fore, no overall or central agreement ment on the Hud- expression to a definite Davies may have made between Party leaders, or Party dersfield lines lim- course of action that at at least engaged in Headquarters, for the allocation of con- ited to the general discussions with stituencies’. election’ offered once leads to trouble Conservative rep- So widespread was the concern and hope of securing and a definite split.’ resentatives. He anxiety that permeated the ranks of the electoral reform had certainly met Liberal Party by the spring of that and thus political and corresponded Clement Davies felt obliged to issue a survival. Davies, however, demurred, still with Lord Beaverbrook in the early public statement that he had ‘no inten- sanguine that a distinctive, positive Liberal months of , following which the tion of compromising the independence creed might yet be salvaged. The party newspaper magnate had expressed the of the Liberal Party’. The same unwa- generally had grown increasingly de- hope that they might again ‘have some vering standpoint was repeated in his spondent ever since the outcome of the conversation on politics’. speech to the annual meeting of the Lib- February poll. In May Clement Davies The narrowness of the Conservative eral Party of Wales at the end of the same spelled out the nub of his dilemma to defeat in February – Attlee now month: ‘The Liberal Party will not jeop- Gilbert Murray: had an overall majority of only six seats ardise its independence or restrict its If you attended our Liberal Party Com- – increased the pressure on them to freedom of action for any price, however mittees, or the meetings of the Parlia- seek some kind of alliance with the great’. To the Liberal faithful he under- mentary Party, or saw the correspond- Liberals. In his response to the King’s lined the same point in print: ‘The Lib- ence that I receive, I believe that you speech, Churchill quoted The Times edi- eral leaders have no knowledge of Con- would come to the conclusion that there is no Party today, but a number of torial which had attacked the Liberals servative intentions or of Conservative individuals who, because of their adher- for ‘a national disservice by the irre- proposals and no negotiations are taking ence to the Party, come together only sponsible spattering of the electoral place’. Yet his brave rhetoric was some- to express completely divergent views. map with hundreds of candidatures’. what undermined as a steady stream of At times he tended to despair of keep- Now, in the wake of his narrow defeat major party figure joined the ranks of ing intact an increasingly fractious party and of Lady Violet Bonham Carter’s re- both the Conservatives and Labour. In which seemed intent on tearing itself fusal of his offer of one of the Con- particular, the Liberal Party was rocked apart: servative election radio broadcast slots, by repeated conjecture that Lady Megan My own position is one of almost su- Churchill dangled a more positive olive Lloyd George (whom Davies had ap- pine weakness for if I give full expres- branch in the form of a promise of an pointed deputy party leader in January sion to a definite course of action that inquiry into the need for electoral re- in a desperate, last ditch attempt to at once leads to trouble and a definite form by a future Conservative govern- keep her within the Liberal fold) was split. It is that split that I am so anxious ment. Both Churchill and Lord about to defect to Labour. At the par- to avoid. We have suffered so much in the past from these quarrels… Any fur- Woolton had approached Davies to dis- ty’s annual assembly convened at Scar- ther division now would, I fear, just cuss the possible allocation of constitu- borough in September Davies stuck to give the final death blow. encies, while prominent Tory back- his guns: There was ample justification for his bencher Cyril Osborne had written to We refuse to get out. We refuse to die. heartfelt fears. The left-wing, radical The Times in early May insisting that ‘all We are determined to live and fight on. group of MPs within the Parliamentary liberal minded Liberals can co-operate There is an undoubted danger in the division of the country between two Liberal Party, which had already lost with the modern Conservative Party, parties using two mighty, powerful, from its ranks stalwarts like Frank Byers which holds the same faith’. wealthy machines. Danger lies in the (agonisingly defeated by just ninety- Davies kept detailed notes of the ar- possibility that the two machines will seven votes at North Dorset in February guments which he had used in his dis- become all powerful, controlling the lo- ), Wilfrid Roberts and Tom cussions with Churchill. He asserted cal associations, controlling candidates, Horabin, had good reason to fear the fi- that Liberal Party headquarters could and members of the House. nal victory of the Tories. In the spring not intervene in the choice of candi- But there was uproar as soon as the par- two Welsh Liberal MPs – Lady Megan dates (although, as events transpired, it ty’s right wing sensed a more radical
10 Journal of Liberal Democrat History 27: Summer 2000 spirit at the assembly. Acting as its The Liberal Party will remain inde- Liberal leader should reply stating ‘that spokesman, Lady Violet Bonham Carter pendent. I cannot make a bargain with the Liberals do not wish to be reduced wrote to tell Clement Davies that she anybody. I have nothing to bargain with to the same political futility as the Lib- except my principles. I am sufficient of felt ‘aghast when I read the proceedings a democrat to say that any man should eral Nationals (but not necessarily in of the [] Assembly… The lunatic have the right to vote for the candidate those words!)’. Smarting at the tart re- fringe seems to have complete com- who is most likely to represent his voice buff, Teviot published his letter in the mand’. Only weeks later it was the in Parliament, and the more candidates national press with the intention of em- turn of the left wing, led by Lady that come forward the better. barrassing Davies. Megan, to rebel spectacularly, threaten- Although there was no question of a na- It would appear that the notably re- ing to join Labour at once, and pushing tional alliance between the Liberals and strained and moderate campaign which Davies to the brink of resignation as Conservatives, local ‘arrangements’ were the Conservatives waged in October party leader. ‘The truth of the matter as very firmly on the political agenda. At the was a studiously conscious bid for it seems to me is this,’ he wrote. ‘They Labour-held seat of Colne Valley in York- Liberal votes. Churchill even offered are not concerned really about the shire the local Conservative Association support for Lady Violet at Colne Valley, Party or the country. They are con- again withdrew its candidate in favour of and he himself travelled northwards to cerned about themselves only and Lady Violet Bonham Carter, partly be- address one of her election meetings. think that their best chance lies in help cause of her close friendship with Rumours intensified that a Tory vic- from the Socialists.’ ‘Don’t speak or Winston Churchill. At the beginning of tory at the polls would lead to the offer even think of laying down the leader- the year she had been warned by Clem- of a Cabinet position to Clement ship. This is the moment to stand fast ent Davies, ‘The one matter that worried Davies. When the Liberal leader had and fight,’ responded Lady Violet, who me was the question whether you, or I, or broadcast to the nation on Septem- was clearly horrified at the prospect of any of us, should give beforehand a ber, the nub of his message was an as- Megan succeeding Clement Davies as pledge as to our support of either of the sault on the record and policies of the party leader. ‘Neither Megan nor other two Parties in the House of Com- Socialists. As the young political ana- Emrys Roberts have the slightest desire mons after the Election. I myself refuse to lyst David Butler, then beginning to to leave the Party. They know how give such a pledge’. She herself at- make a name for himself, wrote in re- small a part they would play in the La- tempted to justify the situation by ould sponse, ‘Mr Davies’ broadcast, it was bour Party.’ In the event, Clement make every effort to broaden the basis of widely noted, attacked only the Labour Davies refused to yield, and the rebel his Government and include some men Party and, on points of policy, said little MPs eventually backed down, but their of real ability drawn from outside the that would have caused surprise if it very real threat was the most harrowing Party fold’. had come from a Conservative… In an manifestation yet of the fundamental As the October election approached, election in which a large number of dilemma facing the Liberals. the ‘Huddersfield pact’ made in Liberals had no candidate of their own, Not only did rumours of clandestine remained operational, while a similar this emphasis was regarded by many as negotiations between Clement Davies agreement enabled Arthur Holt to cap- particularly significant’. and Conservative leaders cause deep ture Bolton West for the Liberals against When he was adopted as the Liberal dissension in Liberal Party ranks, they a sole Labour opponent, in the event candidate for Montgomeryshire at also undermined the internal morale of the only Liberal gain of the election. Newtown on October, Clement the Tories. By the autumn of the No Liberal candidate stood in Bolton Davies again made his point: ‘There are influential Committee had grown East. Clement Davies, Roderic Bowen candidates of various descriptions, but highly uneasy, and some Tory back- and Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris all en- there is only one Liberal Party. Don’t benchers were beginning to criticise joyed straight fights against Labour you have a second thought that we are Churchill for his apparent wooing of men. Some senior Liberal Party officials anything but an absolutely independent the Liberals. Lady Violet Bonham spared no effort to persuade Davies that party, with no allegiance or obligation Carter had, it was rumoured, been en- in such agreements lay the route to fu- to any of the other two great parties’. trusted to negotiate with leading Con- ture party survival. Simultaneously Liberal Party headquar- servatives concerning an allocation of In the run-up to polling day the Na- ters issued the following statement: constituencies. tional Liberal Lord Teviot suggested to The attention of the Liberal Party head- As began it was very much ap- Clement Davies that the emphasis of quarters has been drawn to a suggestion parent that the ‘frustrating and frus- the Conservative and Liberal election appearing in a morning paper that Lib- trated Parliament’ elected the previous broadcasts demonstrated how close the eral leaders might be offered positions in two parties had now become, so that a Conservative Government if the Con- February could not continue in office servatives were successful at the polls. for very much longer. In Montgomery- Liberal sympathisers in constituencies The Liberal Party repeats what has been shire the local Conservative Association with no candidate of their own should many times affirmed, that it is fighting resolved to withdraw their candidate in be urged to vote Conservative. Davies the election as a completely independ- order to allow Clement Davies a at once dismissed the suggestion, on the ent party without any understanding, straight fight against a sole Labour op- advice of both Philip Fothergill and pact or arrangement with any other Lord Samuel, who proposed that the party. It has no knowledge of the inten- ponent. Davies was unimpressed: tions either of the Prime Minister or of
Journal of Liberal Democrat History 27: Summer 2000 11 Lord Samuel. Of these Lady Violet alone urged him to accept. Five years later, following Davies’s retirement as Liberal leader, she recalled her advice in the face of Churchill’s offer: You may remember that when Winston wanted you & two Liberal Under-Sec- retaries to join him in I wanted you to go in. My reasons were that the eco- nomic crisis was far greater than in – when Samuel, Archie [Sinclair] & Donald Maclean joined the national coalition (without any consultation or ‘by-your-leave’ from the party!) & I thought that the Liberals shld. – through you – make their contribution, & in spite of their small numbers could wield real power… I did not feel that a Coali- tion is holy if it is made up of parties, & unholy if it only consists of two! Moreo- ver I thought that responsibility & ad- Clement Davies with Lord Samuel, Liberal leader 1931–35 ministrative experience wld. benefit our party which had had none since . the Leader of the Opposition in the Clement Davies would be offered min- One must construct as well as criticise. event of either of them being called isterial office, perhaps the new position Whatever you may have thought or felt upon to form the next Government. If of minister for Welsh affairs. In the you refused office then – a great personal either a Labour or a Conservative Prime event it is almost certain that on Oc- sacrifice – because you felt that in so do- Minister wished to broaden the base of ing you were interpreting the people’s his administrations the Parliamentary tober Churchill offered the Liberal will. Looking back I feel that you may Liberal Party would at that time decide leader the ministry of education (possi- well have been right. Your action – how- its course of action in the normal consti- bly within the Conservative Cabinet) ever disinterested & patriotic – might tutional way. in a move which one historian has de- well have split the remnant we had left. (I Although Davies was himself re-elected scribed as ‘the deadliest shaft of all’. must add that only Winston’s leadership made me think it possible. I cld never with a record majority of , votes, a There is no doubt that Davies’s imme- have contemplated it under Eden! total of only six Liberal MPs were re- diate personal reaction was to accept. Winston was never a Tory – as the Tories turned, while four radicals (including He had administrative flair, and was still know.) But whether right or wrong it Lady Megan Lloyd George and Emrys not lacking in political ambition. was a great & selfless sacrifice – which O. Roberts) lost their seats. Arthur Holt Moreover, he was now sixty-seven few would have made – & one that will at Bolton West was the only new Liberal years of age, and must have realised that always be remembered – with reverence & admiration. MP. Even party sympathisers feared that this offer was indeed his very last op- this was indeed the point of no return portunity to participate in government. All the others were adamant that ac- for their party. The staunchly loyal Man- At Churchill’s London home and for ceptance would spell the death knell of chester Guardian almost gave up hope: a full two hours over lunch at Chartwell the Liberals as an independent political party. They knew full well that the tiny It is hard to see in this depressing pic- the following day the two men were ture much ground for building up a closeted together as the Prime Minister group of six Liberal MPs could easily country-wide political party on the old used his persuasive skills on Davies. become submerged into the Conserva- model. Unless there is some change in tive Party as had the former Simonite the Conservative Party or some break- Churchill was ‘politely gloomy’ as the conversation turned to the past: Liberals. If he wished to preserve his up in the Labour Party, the Liberal party intact, Davies really had no Party can look forward only to further Clement Davies: Do you remember choice. On the evening of October, attrition and further losses to the two major parties. speaking at Bradford in ? Liberal Party headquarters issued a Churchill: No. Although Labour had again polled statement: Mrs Churchill: Yes dear, you must. slightly more votes than the Conserva- Mr Clement Davies has received an offer Churchill: Ah, yes. That was when I was tives, an unusually high percentage of of office in Mr Churchill’s Government. a young Liberal. I must have made a He has felt unable to accept it. At the floating voters in some marginal con- very truculent speech. same time, the Liberal Party is deeply stituencies chose to vote Tory, which concerned at the possible effect of the changed established voting patterns Davies realised, however, that it was a narrow majority in the House of Com- enough to give the Tories seats to team decision, and stated that he must mons resulting from the General Elec- Labour’s . It was, in a sense, a freak discuss the offer with his senior party tion upon the successful conduct of win. Winston Churchill became Prime British policy both in domestic and in- colleagues, among them Jo Grimond, ternational affairs. In these circumstances Minister with an absolute majority. Frank Byers, Lady Violet Bonham it will, both in Parliament and in the Speculation again intensified that Carter, Lady Megan Lloyd George and
12 Journal of Liberal Democrat History 27: Summer 2000 country, give to the Government sup- Gilbert Murray reflected to Lord port for measures clearly conceived in Samuel, who, together with Sir the interests of the country as a whole. Archibald Sinclair, had attended the Lib- Davies’s decision was depicted as a eral Party meeting convened to discuss sharp ‘rebuff’ to Churchill’s declared Churchill’s offer to Davies: objective of forming a ‘broad-based Well, we have had another resounding Government which will be as widely defeat, and yet I am sure that there is a representative as possible’. But it was strong Liberal feeling in the country. reported that the Prime Minister had For example, the O[xford] U[niversity] voiced his intention of assisting the ail- Liberal Club has now, I believe, a record ing Liberal Party by considering the number of over , , and is much larger than either of its rivals – someone introduction of proportional represen- told me about twice as big. I was glad tation in Parliament and the possible that Winston offered a post to Clement restoration of the university seats which Davies, but I think that CD’s answer was had been abolished by Attlee’s Govern- exactly right. ment in . Harold Macmillan pre- On reflection, Davies claimed to be served in his diary a graphic account of satisfied with his decision – ‘I am glad Winston Churchill the process of Cabinet making at the you agree that we did absolutely right end of October : in refusing Winston’s offer’ – and with tions of and . She appar- Meanwhile Clem Davies has come and the encouraging measure of support ently was approached only because gone. Will he be Minister of Education? for the Liberal Party from university Walter Elliot was not at home when He would love this, but what about the undergraduates. But as maverick So- the prime minister had telephoned him Liberal party? He will try to persuade cialist Desmond Donnelly, narrowly them, but Megan L. George, and Lord to offer him the vacant position. Elliot, Samuel will resist. He leaves for the re-elected in Pembrokeshire, wrote to it is said, was devastated at the rebuff, meeting. (We hear later – on the wire- Caradog Jones, Davies’s Labour oppo- and was consequently made a Com- less – that the Liberals will not play). nent in Montgomeryshire in October panion of Honour as a consolation It was widely felt in political circles that , ‘Old Clem was swilling gin in prize in . At the end of the day, Davies might have enjoyed a notable the smokeroom in mid-afternoon to the ministry of education was not even success as minister of education. He had forget the job old Samuel made him accorded Cabinet status in the new already given much attention to the refuse. However if he throws in his Conservative administration. problems of educational provision in hand with the Tories any more he will Following his discussions with rural areas. Had he accepted, junior be finished.’ Churchill back in , Clem Davies ministerial office would also have been Dr Chris Cook has generously de- had noted, ‘The only way in which the conferred on two of his Liberal col- scribed Churchill’s offer as ‘presumably Liberals could maintain their inde- leagues. He was widely considered to one of genuine goodwill to the Liber- pendence and be distinct from Liberal be ‘the ablest MP who had never held als’, and it may well be that an ele- Unionists and National Liberals, ministerial office’, and one who, by ment of sentimentality surrounded the would be for them to enter into a , had inevitably ‘had a bellyful of olive branch. On the other hand the binding self-denying [sic] that they dissension within his own party’, but he To ry leader was well aware that his would not take any office in a Con- had put loyalty to the Liberal Party party had won through in on a servative government’. At the end of first. His refusal was, as Lady Violet freak minority vote, and he was thus the following year he had remained later put it, ‘a renunciation rare in poli- desperately anxious to neutralise the true to his own prescient edict. tics today’. ‘We refuse to be stamped Liberal threat for the future. Goaded in the Commons by Anthony out’ was Clement Davies’s proud call to There are indications that he re- Wedgwood-Benn (Labour, Bristol his party assembly, ‘In spite of all garded the ministry of education as of South-East) on November to ex- temptations, we still prefer our own minimal interest and significance. It was plain his apparent refusal to ‘[give] doctrine and we are determined to widely known that, when he had of- some stability to the present Govern- maintain our independence’. fered the same position to R. A. Butler ment’, Davies replied, ‘For the simple There is no doubt that Churchill’s of- back in , he had apologised for reason that he and his party remained fer and Davies’s response had marked a having nothing better available. The absolutely independent.’ ‘(Loud Op- major turning point in the history of the position was filled almost as an after- position laughter).’ At a luncheon Liberal Party. As Labour MP Philip thought in early November – held in Davies’s honour at the Na- Noel-Baker wrote from the re-assem- nearly the last ministerial position to be tional Liberal Club two weeks later, bled House of Commons to his mistress filled – and was offered to Miss Flor- Lord Samuel was effusive in his praise the defeated Lady Megan Lloyd George, ence Horsbrugh, the little known MP for the decision which he had taken. ‘I’m so immensely happy that you are for Manchester Moss Side, who had Davies responded, ‘However small be not here, & faced with the hopeless con- only just returned to the Commons our numbers, we have a task to per- flict you would have had in your party’. following defeats in the general elec- form, and that cannot be performed if
Journal of Liberal Democrat History 27: Summer 2000 13 we sink our independence and see the January 1950; J3/12, Davies to Sinclair, 12 Janu- 66 Ibid. J3/60, ‘Suggested reply to Lord Teviot’s party gradually welded into the struc- ary 1950 (copy). letter of 4.10.51’. 31 The Times, 12 January 1950. 67 Ibid. J3/59, M. J. O’Donovan, private secretary ture of another party’. 32 Churchill Archives Centre, University of Cam- to Lord Samuel, to Davies, 5 October 1951. bridge, Churchill Papers 2/64, Davies to 68 Ibid. J3/62, telegram from Teviot to Davies, 6 J. Graham Jones is Assistant Archivist at the Churchill, 23 January 1950: ‘My dear Church- October 1951. ill …’. 69 Published in extenso in The Listener, 4 October National Library of Wales, currently respon- 33 Ibid., Churchill to Davies, 25 January 1950 1951. sible for the Welsh Political Archive. He is (copy): ‘My dear Davies …’. 70 D. E. Butler, The British General Election of the author of A Pocket Guide: the His- 34 Ibid., Davies to Churchill, 26 January 1950: ‘My 1951 (London, 1952), p. 65. dear Churchill …’. 71 The Times, 8 October 1951. tory of Wales ( ) and several articles on 35 Ibid., note initialled ‘WSC’, 26 January 1950. 72 Ibid. late nineteenth and twentieth century Welsh 36 Quoted in H. G. Nicholas, The British General 73 Manchester Guardian, 27 October 1951. politics. Election of 1950 (London, 1951), pp. 86–87. 74 See the Western Mail, 27 October 1951. 37 The Times, 2 February 1950. 75 Douglas, op. cit., p. 265. 38 NLW, Clement Davies Papers J3/14, Davies to 76 Martin Gilbert, Never Despair: Winston S. Notes Sinclair, 22 March 1950 (copy). Churchill, 1945–1965 (Minerva paperback edi- 1The phrase is the title of Lord (Emlyn) 39 Ibid. J3/15, Sinclair to Davies, 28 March 1950; tion, 1990), p. 655. Hooson’s lecture to the Honourable Society of J3/16, Davies to Sinclair, 17 April 1950 (copy). 77 NLW, Clement Davies Papers J3/83, Lady Violet Cymmrodorion on 19 June 1996, published in 40 Ibid. J3/23, Sinclair to Davies, 3 May 1950; J3/ Bonham Carter to Davies, 2 October 1956. The Transactions of the Honourable Society of 25, Murray to Davies, 10 May 1950; House of 78 The Times, 29 October 1951. Cymmrodorion, 1997 (New Series, Vol. 4, Lords Record Office, Samuel Papers A/130(9c), 79 Ibid. 1998), 168–86, and reprinted in the Journal of notes of conversation by Lady Violet Bonham 80 Western Mail, 29 October 1951; Manchester Liberal Democrat History 24 (Autumn 1999), Carter, 4 May 1950. Guardian, 29 October 1951. 3–13. 41 NLW, Clement Davies Papers J3/23, Sinclair to 81 Cited in Macmillan, Tides of Fortune, p. 365. 2 Roy Douglas, The History of the Liberal Party, Davies, 3 May 1950. 82 Western Mail, 30 October 1951; Manchester 1895–1970 (London, 1971), caption to plate 42 Ibid. J3/22, Davies to Sinclair, 28 April 1950 Guardian, 30 October 1951. opposite p. 248. (copy). 83 Hooson, ‘Clement Davies’, p. 181. 3 See the Montgomeryshire Express, 2 Septem- 43 Ibid. J3/26, Davies to Murray, 11 May 1950 84 Manchester Guardian, 1 October 1956. ber 1930. (copy). 85 Cited in Alan Watkins, The Liberal Dilemma 4 Ibid. 44 Ibid. J1/75–78. (London, 1966), p. 65. 5 Ibid., 10 August 1930; Hooson, ‘Clement 45 Ibid. J1/78, Beaverbrook to Davies, 19 January 86 NLW, Lady Megan Lloyd George Papers, PNB to Davies’, pp. 172–73. 1949. MLG, 12 November 1951. 6 Hooson, ‘Clement Davies’, p. 173. 46 The Times, 27 February 1950. 87 NLW, Clement Davies Papers J3/63, Murray 7 David M. Roberts, ‘Clement Davies and the fall 47 Ibid., 12 May 1950. to Samuel, 29 October 1951 (copy) (my em- of Neville Chamberlain’, Welsh History Review 48 NLW, Clement Davies Papers C1/54, notes by phasis). 8 (1976–77), 188–215. CD entitled ‘Liberal position as put to me by Mr. 88 Ibid. J3/65, Davies to Murray, 9 November 8 Montgomeryshire Express, 12 May 1945. Winston Churchill and Lord Woolton, 1950’. 1951 (copy). 9 Ibid., 9 June 1945. 49 The Times, 3 May 1950. 89 NLW, D. Caradog Jones Papers, file 2, Donnelly 10 NLW, Clement Davies Papers C3/12, circular 50 Liberal News, 26 May 1950: ‘The Liberal Party is to Jones, 5 November 1951. letter from Huw T. Edwards, area secretary of not for sale’. 90 Chris Cook, A Short History of the Liberal Party, the TGWU, 2 July 1945. I am most grateful to Mr 51 Ibid. 1900–1984 (London, 1984), p. 134. Stanley Clement-Davies, London, for permis- 52 See Kenneth O. Morgan, Labour in Power, 91 Western Mail, 2 November 1951. sion to consult and make use of his father’s pa- 1945–51 (London, 1984), pp. 292–93. 92 Gilbert, op. cit., p. 656. pers. 53 See The Observer, 4 June 1950. 93 NLW, Clement Davies Papers C1/54. 11 Montgomeryshire Express, 28 July 1945. 54 Yorkshire Evening Post, 30 September 1950. 94 The Times, 9 November 1951. 12 The Times, 3 August 1945, p. 4. 55 NLW, Clement Davies Papers J3/42, Lady Violet 95 Ibid., 22 November 1951. 13 Douglas, op. cit., pp. 249–50. Bonham Carter to Davies, 6 October 1950. 14 House of Commons Debates, 5th series, Vol. 56 Ibid. J3/45, Davies to Lady Violet Bonham 413, cc. 117–18 (16 August 1945). Carter, 15 November 1950 (copy). 15 Cited in C. Cooke, Sir Winston Churchill: a self 57 Ibid. J3/46, Lady Violet Bonham Carter to portrait (London, 1954), p. 199. Davies, 18 November 1950. 16 The Spectator, 21 September 1945, p. 267. 58 See the Daily Telegraph, 18 November 1950. 17 Liberal Magazine, July 1946, p. 309. 59 See Malcolm Baines, ‘The survival of the British 18 Montgomeryshire Express, 10 August 1946. Liberal Party, 1933–59’ in Anthony Gorst, Lewis 19 Ibid. Johnman and W. Scott Lucas (eds.), Contempo- 20 Liberal News, 19 September 1947. rary British History, 1931–1961: Politics and the 21 NLW, Clement Davies Papers K1/41, draft Limits of Policy (London and New York, 1991), speech notes, 17 November 1947. p. 26. 22 Liberal News, 21 November 1947. 60 Bodleian Library, Oxford, Conservative Party 23 The Times, 27 November 1947. Archives CC01/8/541, memorandum by J.P.L. 24 NLW MS 20475C, no. 3168, Lady Violet Thomas, ‘Negotiations with the Liberals’, sent to Bonham Carter to Lady Megan Lloyd George, Woolton, Piersenné and Maxse, 15 September 17 November 1947 (‘Private’). 1950. 25 NLW MS 20491E, no. 3429, unlabelled press 61 The phrase is that used by Harold Macmillan in cutting dated 18 November 1947. his Tides of Fortune (London, 1969), p. 352. 26 Montgomeryshire Express, 11 October 1947. 62 Montgomeryshire Express, 14 October 1950. 27 NLW, Clement Davies Papers K1/48, draft 63 NLW, Clement Davies Papers J3/53, Davies to speech notes, 10 May 1949. Lady Violet Bonham Carter, 11 January 1951 28 Ibid. J3/3, Davies to Sinclair, 16 February 1949 (copy). (copy). 64 House of Lords Record Office, Samuel Papers 29 See ibid. J3/9, Sinclair to Davies, 2 January A/155 (xiii) 42, Lady Violet Bonham Carter to 1950. Samuel, 28 February 1951. 30 Ibid. J3/10, Davies to Sinclair, 6 January 1949 65 NLW, Clement Davies Papers J3/58, Teviot to [recte 1950] (copy); J3/11i, Sinclair to Davies, 9 Davies, 4 October 1951.
14 Journal of Liberal Democrat History 27: Summer 2000