‘The Steady Tapping Breaks the Rock’ Russell Deacon traces the history of the post-war Welsh Liberal tradition.
There is a Welsh proverb which states that it is the sented Welsh constituencies, for instance. MPs from Wales have played a prominent role in the ‘steady tapping that breaks the rock’. Over the last United Kingdom party as well. The national forty years, Welsh Liberals have undergone a process party was twice led by Welsh Liberal MPs: of consolidation rather than experienced any David Lloyd George (–) and Clement Davies (–). significant expansion. After Plaid Cymru’s political The origins of a distinct Welsh Liberal breakthrough in the s the Welsh Liberals and Party go back to the closing decade of the then the Welsh Liberal Democrats remained the last century. In the late nineteenth century the Liberals in Wales were split into two Federa- fourth political party in Wales. Recent Conservative tions of North and South Wales. The North misfortunes have brought the Welsh Liberal Wales Liberal Federation supported the idea Democrats back to the position of third largest of a Welsh Liberal Party that was distinct from that in England. Anglicised Liberals in the political party in Wales. This article explores the South, however, strongly resisted ‘Welsh domi- history of the Welsh Liberal Party since its nation’. The present day Welsh Party emerged when Lloyd George formed the Welsh Lib- establishment in and more latterly the Welsh eral Council in . The lack of trust be- Liberal Democrats, formed in . tween the northern and southern elements of the party, however, ensured that the Council was only an organisational shell. Power re- ‘Our spirit is such that if the Liberal Party died mained with the Federations. elsewhere it would always go on in Wales’ Between and , the Asquith/Lloyd Major Parry Brown (Chairman of the Liberal George split and the three-way division caused Party in Wales), December by the formation of the National Government Major Parry Brown’s confidence in the in caused divisions within Wales which Welsh Liberals reflected a strong Liberal tradi- ensured that the Council’s role remained ir- tion in Wales which reached its peak in relevant. The key post of Welsh Liberal Agent when, for the first time this century, Wales be- and Secretary was not even filled between came a Tory-free zone. The Liberal and Lib- and , and often the Northern and South- Lab candidates took thirty-three of Wales’ ern Federations passed conflicting resolutions. thirty-five seats, with the Labour Party taking The party lacked a Welsh identity in everything the other two. Liberalism in Wales had reached but name and developed few distinctively Welsh its zenith. For the whole of the twentieth cen- policies beyond support for political and ad- tury Liberalism has held on in Wales – though ministrative devolution. sometimes, such as during the periods between In , the Liberal Party contested eight- – and –, by only one seat. There een seats in Wales, winning eight; Liberals in has, however, never been a period in the twen- Welsh seats made up more than half of the par- tieth century when Liberalism has not been liamentary party. Between – the represented in Wales, in contrast to Welsh na- number of Welsh Liberal MPs was reduced tionalism, in the shape of Plaid Cymru, or Con- from eight to two; in the latter year, the Welsh servatism. For parts of the twentieth century component of the Parliamentary Liberal Party Wales almost acted as a refuge for Liberalism was reduced to a third. The number of Welsh within the United Kingdom – half of the par- seats contested by Liberals had also fallen, to liamentary party after the election repre- eight. Liberals were represented in local gov-
14 journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 ernment only where they were pre- dred delegates at the Welsh Lib- pared to stand as independents. eral Conference at Llanidloes Table 1 Strong measures were felt to be decided, upon Hooson’s advice, Liberal Party/Alliance/Liberal needed in order to save the party; in to set up a separate party, based Democrat share of votes and the secretary of the party in on the Scottish Liberal Party seats in Wales 1970–97 Wales, G. Madoc-Jones, declared that: model, with federated links to Year % of vote MPs ‘a constructive and positive remedy the Liberal Party Organisation 1970 6.8 1 would be for the Liberal Party of in London. This move was un- 1974 Feb 16.0 2 Wales to declare itself an autono- popular in south Wales but a 1974 Oct 15.5 2 mous and quite independent organi- federal structure has been re- 1979 10.6 1 sation.’ Clement Davies had con- tained ever since. 1983 23.2 2 centrated on the survival of the na- Policy in the new Welsh 1987 17.9 3 tional party and therefore had done party continued to be focused 1992 12.4 1 little to encourage Welsh party devo- on political devolution. The 1997 12.0 2 lution. This notion was taken up by standard and depth of debate Emlyn Hooson upon his election for on this issue within the party Clement Davies’ seat of Mont- meant that, at its second annual con- party. Owing to Howells and gomeryshire following Davies’ death ference, at Llandrindod Wells in June Hooson, the Liberals’ commitment in . Over the next few years , Hooson was able to declare to devolution, including the propos- Hooson, together with other promi- that his party had become ‘the think- als of the Callaghan government, was nent Welsh Liberals such as Lord ing party in Wales …. the think-tank reinforced. Beyond devolution, how- Ogmore, Martin Thomas, G.W. of Welsh politics’. Welsh Liberals ever, both MPs paid only limited at- Madoc-Jones and Geraint Howells, championed devolution at Westmin- tention to policy creation or the determined to pursue a far greater ster. Hooson introduced the Gov- general stewardship of the Welsh degree of Welsh devolution within ernment of Wales Bill, which advo- Liberal Party. The party failed to the Liberal Party. They were also cated a Welsh Parliament, on St. make any real gains in the local gov- concerned that Plaid Cymru was David’s Day , though this was ernment elections of and , increasingly stealing their clothes on soundly defeated. Over the next ten which saw major Labour setbacks. the issue of devolution, and build- years, the Liberals fought hard to dis- The practical role of holding the ing up a healthy support in many tra- tinguish themselves in their enthu- Welsh party together was left to ditional Liberal areas of North siasm for devolution from Plaid Martin Thomas QC, Vice Chair of Wales. Cymru. the Welsh Party between –, Graham Jones, the Welsh histo- The fact that the Welsh Liberals Chair between – and Presi- rian, saw the Liberals in the period had further embraced devolution dent between –. Thomas, a up until as a party which: made little difference to their successful barrister based in North ‘emerged as increasingly the politi- electability in the general elec- Wales and London, played a crucial cal home of the elderly, ever more tion, where the party only contested role in running the Welsh party and detached from the mainstream of around a third of the seats (Table ). encouraging policy creation across a Welsh political life, many of its But they did gain Cardiganshire in broad range of issues until the younger radicals defecting to Labour, February , and by the general general election. the Welsh patriots embracing Plaid election of October the party Howells’ support for devolution Cymru, and some former Liberals was able to contest all of the Welsh may have been popular in the Welsh finding a congenial home in the seats for the first time since . -speaking heartland of Cardiganshire, Conservative Party. The Liberal ap- Over the next twenty-three years, but was less so in Montgomeryshire. peal and commitment to traditional however, despite achieving, at most, Hooson’s support for devolution al- values and memories were no longer in , almost a quarter of the ienated him from the increasing sufficient to win the party mass elec- Welsh popular vote, the party never number of English immigrants into toral support in Wales.’ won more than three MPs in Wales the area. In the general elec- In March Roderic Bowen (Table ). tion, as the Liberals prepared to cel- was defeated by votes in the tra- The Liberal victory in ebrate a ‘Liberal century’ in Mont- ditional Liberal seat of Cardiganshire. Cardiganshire brought on to the gomeryshire, Hooson lost his seat. With the Liberals reduced to just political stage the Ponterwyd hill- Welsh Liberal fortunes were once one seat (Emlyn Hooson’s Mont- farmer Geraint Howells. Howells, again at a low ebb. gomeryshire) and with a fearful eye like Hooson, was an ardent devolu- The limited popularity of devo- being trained upon the rising for- tionist. On some issues, such as lution forced Howells and the Welsh tunes of Plaid Cymru, the momen- Welsh education, he sometimes ap- party to concentrate on other areas tum for change began to build up. peared closer to the Plaid Cymru of policy, including local government On September , two hun- agenda than to that of his own reform. This made little difference to journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 15 the fortunes of the Welsh Liberal thirty-four included only four who parliamentary representation, retain- Party and not even the advent of the had previously belonged to the SDP. ing only one seat, Alex Carlile’s Alliance with the Social Democratic This implied that the core of the Montgomeryshire. As a result of this Party (SDP) boosted significantly Welsh Liberal Democrats remained poor election performance, the par- Liberal representation in Wales. strongly Liberal in background; the ty’s Swansea conference de- Montgomery was regained in , party’s three MPs – Carlile, Howells cided to take a number of measures by Alex Carlile, but this was a mea- and Livsey – were all former Lib- to avoid the Liberal Democrats’ to- gre reward for an Alliance poll of eral Party members. As a result, it was tal elimination in Wales. Prominent .%. Carlile was much more of a traditional Welsh Liberal ideals, rather amongst these was the upgrading of national politician than Howells, than those of the SDP, which shaped the party’s Welsh HQ, which for the who directed his attention towards the Welsh party’s policy agenda. This previous two decades had been run his own special interests of home af- encouraged weak central control of by part-time staff, to a full-time of- fairs and agriculture. Liberal Democrats in Wales, espe- fice. It also allowed for the employ- Richard Livsey’s byelection vic- cially because the SDP bequeathed ment of a full-time party manager, tory in , as Liberal/Alliance, did little in the way of money or admin- Judi Lewis, who had previously been little to revitalise the Welsh party. At istrative resources to the new party. secretary to Geraint Howells MP. A the conference so few delegates The Alliance’s inheritance did distinct Welsh policy agenda was also arrived that the conference came include some benefits. The creation to be encouraged. close to being abandoned. It was of the SDP, and its alliance with the Alex Carlile attempted to fulfil unsurprising, therefore, that at the Liberals, breathed new life into Lib- the role of Welsh Leader and federal general election the party’s vote erals at local government level. Al- party spokesman on issues ranging fell back to .% and no new seats though few SDP councillors were from health to the Home Office for were won, although the three exist- elected, for the first time in decades the next five years. While Howells ing seats were held. Liberal councillors appeared on ur- and Hooson had also adopted this In March a joint conference ban councils, including Cardiff and role in the past, the demands made of both the Welsh Liberal Party and Swansea. The Alliance also tended to on Carlile’s time by the media, as SDP, although attended by only contest more seats than either the well as by Welsh question time, the eight members, saw both parties Conservatives or Plaid Cymru. As a Welsh Grand Committee, the Welsh merged. The SDP had never suc- consequence, whereas the Liberals Affairs Select Committee and other ceeded in winning a Parliamentary had held .% of district council parliamentary activities requiring a seat in Wales and, unlike in England seats in , the Alliance held .% Welsh Liberal input, were consider- or Scotland, no prominent SDP MPs in ; there was a similar rise in able. To help Carlile, Martin Thomas or peers were able to stamp their the number of county council seats was elevated to the peerage in . mark on the new Welsh party. Only held, from .% in to .% in He was the first Welsh Liberal a few of the key Welsh SDP figures . Although this did not include Democrat or Welsh Liberal who had such as Gwynoro Jones (former La- the control of any councils, it did not been an MP to join the House bour MP for Carmarthen) and Tom give the Alliance a presence for the of Lords since the party’s formation Ellis (former Labour MP for first time on many. in . Wrexham) and a few SDP council- Whilst the s had proved to By the time of the general lors in Neath and Taff-Ely district be a period of expansion for the Al- election the Welsh party had pub- councils remained much involved at liance, the European elections licly targeted the seats of Brecon & the time of the merger, and none and the general election were Radnorshire, Ceredigion, Conwy became prominent in the new party. severe disappointments for the Welsh and Montgomeryshire for election Cardiff Liberal councillor Jenny Liberal Democrats. In the latter elec- victories. All needed swings of .% Randerson, for instance, beat tion, Geraint Howells lost his seat to or less; Brecon & Radnorshire was Gwynoro Jones in the contest for the Plaid Cymru and Richard Livsey lost one of the most marginal seats in the chairmanship of the new party. By his to the Conservatives. The party whole of the United Kingdom. In the Welsh Party Executive of fell behind Plaid Cymru in terms of Ceredigion and Conwy the Liberal Democrats put forward two tradi- tional Welsh-speaking Liberal candi- dates, Dai Davies and Roger Table 2 Welsh Liberal Party fortunes 1970 and 1997 Roberts. In the event, however, the Election Seats contested Position (%) Lost deposits party quietly abandoned Ceredigion. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th (no.) A traditionally Welsh-speaking and 1970 17 out of 36 6 7 53 29 6 2 politically independent area, the 1997 40 out of 40 5 18 55 23 0 2 mainly English-speaking Welsh Ex- ecutive felt that an uncharismatic (Sums do not total 100% due to rounding) candidate had been selected and that
16 journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 the seat was now irretrievably na- third party in Wales may well be rep- tional Question Again: Welsh Political tionalist. Plaid increased its majority resented throughout Wales for the Identity in the s (Gomer Press, from less than two thousand votes first time since . It will be case ), p. . Clive Betts, The Political Conundrum to over ten thousand. Ceredigion of the ‘steady tapping of the Welsh (Gomer Press, ), p. . was replaced by Cardiff Central as Liberal Democrats’ finally breaking J. Graham Jones, ‘The Liberal Party and the party’s fourth most winnable the rock of its widespread political Wales –’, The Welsh History Review Welsh seat. exclusion. : (June ), p. . Conwy’s fate, however, was differ- Roberts, ‘The Strange Death of Liberal Russell Deacon is a senior lecturer in Wales’, p. . ent. A Conservative/Liberal marginal government and politics at the Univer- Graham Jones, ‘The Liberal Party and throughout the s, Labour, who sity of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC) Wales – ’, p. . had become the strongest party on Graham Jones, ‘The Liberal Party and Business School. He was Director of the local council in , came from Wales –’, p. . Policy for Liberal Democrats Wales in the third to win in . Richard Livsey Roberts, ‘The Strange Death of Liberal general election, and the Welsh par- Wales’ p. did, however, regain Brecon & ty’s principal author of its proposals for Graham Jones, ‘The Liberal Party and Radnorshire in a more anglicised part a Welsh Parliament: ‘A Senedd for Wales: Wales – ’, p. . of Wales. Montgomeryshire was won Duncan Brack et al (eds), Dictionary of beyond a talking shop’. by Lembit Öpik, a Newcastle coun- Liberal Biography (Politico’s Publishing, cillor from Northern Ireland born of Notes: ), p. . Betts, The Political Conundrum, p. . The Welsh Liberal Democrats’ official Estonian parents, with no previous K. O. Morgan ‘Montgomeryshire’s Lib- title is Liberal Democrats Wales, chosen Welsh background. Thus Welsh Lib- eral Century: Rendel to Hooson, – by the former leader Alex Carlile because eral Parliamentary representation re- ’, The Welsh History Review : (June it translates more closely the Welsh name ), p. . mained restricted to the English bor- of Democratiaid Rhyddfydol Cymru. For Brack, Dictionary of Liberal Biography, p. der county of Powys, and neither MP grammatical reasons they are referred to . spoke Welsh. The failure of the Con- as the Welsh Liberal Democrats through- Betts, The Political Conundrum, p. . out this article. servatives to win any seats in Wales M. Rallings and M. Thrasher, Local Gov- K. O. Morgan, Rebirth of a Nation (Ox- in meant that the Liberal ernment Election Results, Local Govern- ford University Press, ), p.. ment Chronicle , p.xix. Democrats at Westminster, as well as D. Roberts, ‘The Strange Death of Lib- at local government level, could truly eral Wales’ in J. Osmond (ed), The Na- claim to be the third party in Wales for the first time since the early s. It was also significant that the total Liberal Democrat vote in Wales re- A Liberal Democrat History Group Evening Meeting mained the same as in , at .%, despite the party languishing at be- Did the Yellow Book spell the end tween –% in Welsh opinion polls between –. of Asquithian Liberalism? In its first general election as a federal party, , the Welsh Liberal Britain's Industrial Future, the report of the Liberal Industrial Party contested % of the seats and Inquiry established by Lloyd George, was far in advance of came first in just one (Table ). In any comparable contribution to political debate when it its most recent election, , the appeared in February 1928. Welsh Liberal Democrats contested all of the seats and came first in two. The 'Yellow Book's' advocacy of government planning to Its overall electoral position re- reduce unemployment formed the basis of the Liberal mained better than in but it election campaign of 1929. What difference did it really never managed to break out of the make to British politics? Did it change the direction of the counties of Ceredigion or Powys at a Parliamentary level during the in- Liberal Party? tervening period. As in , how- Discuss the issues with leading historians of the period ever, the party remained in the po- sition of the third most popular in John Grigg and Richard Grayson. the majority of the seats it contested. (The meeting will follow the History Group AGM, at Perhaps a fitting judgement on a political party that has always 6.30pm). thought to provide a third way in Welsh politics. When the first pro- 7.00pm, Monday 12 April portional elections are held for the National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, London SW1 Welsh Assembly, in May , the journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 17