Biography Dr J. Graham Jones looks at the life and political career of the contentious, individualistic, right-wing Liberal MP for Cardiganshire from 1945 until 1966, Captain E. Roderic Bowen MP (1913–2001) Grimond’sGrimond’s RivalRival
van Roderic Bowen was born at the small Cardiganshire since , and R. Hopkin Morris, market town of Cardigan on the coast of Independent Liberal MP for the county, –, E west Wales on August , the son of a re- who subsequently re-entered the Commons as Lib- tired businessman who had been much involved in eral MP for neighbouring Carmarthenshire in . local Liberal politics. He always proudly recalled his He was also approached in connection with the Lib- family’s active involvement in local Liberal politics eral vacancy at Brecon & Radnor. He played some even when he was a small boy when he had dyed his part in Liberal activities in south Wales and came pet terrier in the Liberal colours. Educated at Cardi- into contact with the leading Liberals in the area. gan Council School and Cardigan County School, In June , after the wholly unexpected death he graduated with first class honours in law at both of county MP D. O. Evans, Bowen was chosen, per- the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (forty haps surprisingly, as the Liberal candidate for his na- miles from his home), and St John’s College, Cam- tive Cardiganshire over the heads of a number of bridge. Periods at the Inns of Court and on the con- prominent local Liberals. In the ensuing general tinent led to the call to the bar by the Middle Tem- election campaign no Conservative contender ap- ple in . Bar practice commenced in , peared, and the Liberal platform focused primarily Bowen taking chambers at Cardiff and practising on on an attack on ‘the rigid and inflexible policy of the South Wales circuit. At the outbreak of hostilities, Socialism’. The Labour candidate in the county was he twice volunteered for military service, but was re- Iwan Morgan, an economist and Cardiff university jected on medical grounds before, in , at his lecturer with strong Cardiganshire connections. Al- third dogged attempt, securing acceptance as a pri- though the absence of a Tory candidate meant that vate, in which capacity he served for eighteen Bowen’s election to parliament was nigh on certain, months. Securing a commission in the autumn of D. O. Evans, in his last public appearance in the , he was an officer for six months before being county shortly before his death, had warned local appointed chief instructor in administration of pay Liberals that, ‘It would be very unwise to be over- duties at a school for officers under the Southern confident. That attitude of mind would only breed Command. Bowen was later seconded to the staff of complacency.’ In the event he was probably over- the Judge-Advocate General to the Forces, and to- cautious, for Bowen defeated Morgan by the wide wards the end of the war participated in duties asso- margin of votes, by far the highest majority of ciated with Courts Martial, Courts for Prisoners of the twelve Liberal MPs returned in , the new War and the preparation of cases against National MP immediately describing the outcome as ‘a vic- War Criminals. tory for personal and political freedom … a defeat As a barrister, his work often focused on work- for bureaucracy and state control’. ‘The young up- men’s compensation and he took a particular inter- start’, chosen against the odds only a few weeks ear- est in local government administration. His devotion lier, had, it seemed, already proved his worth. At the to Welsh culture was reflected in his involvement in same time veteran Liberal Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris the activities of the Honourable Society of narrowly captured highly marginal Carmarthen- Cymmrodorion and Urdd Gobaith Cymru (the Welsh shire, the only Labour loss in the whole of the League of Youth), while he also served as legal advi- United Kingdom, and an enormous personal tri- sor to the local Teifi Net Fishermen’s Association. umph for him. Bowen’s Liberal antecedents were notable. He ad- Short, stout, bespectacled and balding, Roderic dressed a number of political meetings in support of Bowen entered the House of Commons in as D. O. Evans, his predecessor as Liberal MP for one of a tiny fragment of twelve Liberal MPs, no
26 Journal of Liberal Democrat History 34/35 Spring/Summer 2002 fewer than seven of whom represented Bowen was generally well-liked at Cardiganshire Tories and local social- Welsh divisions. Morale within their Westminster. His sole critics at the ists were ‘collaborating in their efforts ranks was inevitably at an all-time low, Commons, it seems, were verbatim re- to oust the Liberal member’. His for the party had been ravaged beyond porters; when he moved a motion in heartfelt pessimism was clearly shared belief at the recent poll in a socialist to appoint a royal commission on by party leader Clement Davies, who landslide which had engulfed even war pensions, it took him all of sixty- dejectedly wrote to his predecessor, Sir party leader Sir Archibald Sinclair (by eight minutes. Archibald Sinclair, in the early days of the agonisingly slim margin of votes) Generally Roderic Bowen tended to the new year, ‘I do not know whether at Caithness & Sutherland, and its chief be critical of the policies and conduct I shall be back here … Even if I do whip, Sir Percy Harris, at Bethnal of the Attlee administrations. As severe pull it off, it will be “a damned near Green South-West. Other casualties in- economic depression hit the country thing”. … Each of us in Wales will cluded Sir William Beveridge at Ber- during the winter of –, he told have a very tough fight.’ ‘No-one wick-upon-Tweed, James de his local Liberal Association that the knows who will be here’ was his pessi- Rothschild on the Isle of Ely and vet- onset of slump was ‘because the Gov- mistic conclusion only days later. eran Sir Goronwy Owen at ernment had concentrated on political Again Iwan Morgan, reluctantly re-se- Caernarfonshire. Even so, some long- dogma rather than on facing immediate lected by the Cardiganshire Labour serving Liberal MPs remained at West- economic difficulties’, warning that Party as its candidate, could point the minster, and initially Bowen was both Aneurin Bevan’s embryonic Na- finger at Roderic Bowen’s unimpres- dwarfed in stature by such figures as tional Health Service and the National sive and inconsistent voting record in Clement Davies (Montgomeryshire), Insurance Act were ‘being threatened the Commons lobbies. An intense soon to be elected ‘chairman’ (if not by the growing danger of inflation’. three-cornered fray threatened to un- leader) of the fragmented Parliamen- As the members of the fractious Parlia- dermine Bowen’s position; in his care- tary Liberal Party, Lady Megan Lloyd mentary Liberal Party displayed highly fully phrased election address he George (Anglesey), self-appointed inconsistent, even bizarre, voting pointedly noted ‘the intervention of a champion of the party’s left wing, her records in the Commons lobbies, Bo- third candidate’ which, he felt, had brother Major Gwilym Lloyd George wen’s personal performance at the ‘subsequently increased the danger of (Pembrokeshire), a notable political House came under scrutiny, provoking the socialist being returned’. In the maverick moving swiftly to the right, him to retort that ‘he had always voted event, his personal anxiety was mis- Tom Horabin (North Cornwall), an- as his judgement dictated’, and to point placed, for he was re-elected by a ma- other left-wing radical and the new to his support for the setting up of the jority of no fewer than , votes Liberal chief whip, and Edgar Granville National Health Service. He asserted over Morgan, again the highest margin (Eye). They were indeed ‘a motley that, by following their consciences on enjoyed by any of the nine Liberal group’, totally lacking in cohesion, each major issue, the small group of MPs returned. Bowen had captured with no common political philosophy Liberal MPs constituted ‘a far more per cent of the Cardiganshire vote, and or parliamentary strategy, ever ready to critical opposition to the Government his was the only division apart from dissent, even rebel, some of its members than the Official Opposition did’. Yet, Montgomeryshire where the Liberals perched on opposing poles of the po- although highly critical of doctrinaire had secured an absolute majority in a litical spectrum. socialism, Bowen doggedly renounced three-cornered contest. Thereafter he Bowen was soon to make his mark an overture from the local Conservative was not to face a Conservative oppo- in the Commons as a dextrous, amusing Party that a joint candidate might stand nent until October . debater, but clearly on the right wing of at the next general election, rejoicing in When the second Attlee administra- his tiny party, and generally reluctant to the decision of the Cardiganshire Lib- tion, with its much reduced overall ma- break ranks with the party leadership, eral Party to reject out-of-hand an ap- jority, was compelled to go to the coun- always adhering closely to the official proach from Sir Arthur Harford, chair- try again in the autumn of , party line – ‘the plump Welshman with man of the Cardiganshire Conserva- Roderic Bowen, now facing a sole La- the polished manner’. Lord Emlyn tives, that the two parties might field a bour opponent, Revd. Brynmor Hooson has written of both Roderic joint candidate at the forthcoming Williams, vicar of Llansamlet, was sure of Bowen and R. Hopkin Morris in the election. Ironically, in the neighbouring re-election, increasing his majority to – parliament as determined to Pembrokeshire constituency a formal ,, again the highest of the six Lib- ‘have nothing whatever to do with the ‘Lib–Con’ pact was formed to support eral MPs returned to Westminster, al- Labour Party and socialism and were the re-election of National Liberal (or though the turnout in Cardiganshire regarded as being of the right’. The Liberal and Conservative) MP Major plummeted sharply. In his election ad- novice MP for Cardiganshire partici- Gwilym Lloyd-George. dress the Liberal candidate urged his pated only occasionally in parliamen- Failure to conclude such an agree- constituents ‘to resist any attempts to im- tary debate, generally speaking on ment in Cardiganshire meant that a pose Nationalisation upon our Agricul- Welsh affairs, often on matters of direct keenly contested three-cornered fray tural Industry and to take land unreason- relevance to his constituency. From the was likely in , Bowen fearing for ably for non-agricultural purposes’. outset of his political career, however, his political future and sensing that But the total number of Liberal MPs
Journal of Liberal Democrat History 34/35 Spring/Summer 2002 27 his active involvement, although he was a consistent vocal advocate of the na- tional rights of Wales. But there was some substance to Plaid Cymru gibes that Liberal support for the agitation was at best ‘anaemic’. By the mid s Roderic Bowen was firmly entrenched in his Cardiganshire citadel, the impressive victor of three parliamentary elections by a wide margin. At the end of a full-time secretary-organiser to the Cardiganshire Liberal Association, in the person of J. Parry Williams, a former employee of the Ministry of Labour, was appointed. The position had previ- ously been vacant for a full eighteen months. The nomination of David Jones Davies, a native of Tregaron within the county, who had served as further education officer for Caer- narfonshire, as the county’s next Labour candidate spurred county Liberals to overhaul their organisation. ‘We are in- clined to be slack in our efforts be- tween elections’, warned local organ- Roderic Bowen in 1950 iser Mrs Arthian Davies, ‘Why should we worry? Mr Bowen is sure to get in, now shrank to an all-time low of six, opponents. Rumours circulated dur- and it is in that attitude that the danger while the defeats of Lady Megan Lloyd ing the election campaign that lies.’ During a concerted effort George (Anglesey) and Emrys O. Davies might well be offered ministerial was made to streamline local organisa- Roberts (Merionethshire) meant that office in the event of a Tory victory at tion and increase support for Bowen. the three Liberal MPs who remained in the polls (as, in fact, he soon was). At the end of May there was wide- Wales – Bowen, Clement Davies and Sir The defeats of Lady Megan and spread rejoicing in Welsh Liberal circles Rhys Hopkin Morris – were all seen as Emrys Roberts also reduced sharply the as Clement Davies celebrated his silver right-wingers, having much in common involvement of Welsh Liberals in the te- jubilee as Liberal MP for Mont- with Churchill’s Conservatives. None nacious Parliament for Wales agitation gomeryshire. Major J. Parry Brown, had faced a Tory opponent in , sug- inaugurated in July . In reply to a chairman of the Liberal Party of Wales, gesting that their political philosophy newspaper questionnaire circulated dur- in a major speech assured his listeners was acceptable to Conservative Party ing October which included the that a ‘tremendous Liberal revival’ was headquarters. As Conservative local or- question, ‘Are you in favour of a Welsh about to happen, triggered by the re- ganisation remained relatively weak in Parliament and does your party officially cent re-establishment of local Liberal these three constituencies, Central Of- support that view?’, Bowen replied, ‘Yes, associations in many parts of Wales. As fice was generally happy to endorse the to deal with the domestic problems of yet another election campaigned re-election of sitting Liberal MPs Wales, but not in substitution for, but in dawned, intense rumours pervaded perched on the right of their tiny party addition to, Welsh representation at Cardiganshire that ill health might well rather than see the seats fall to the La- Westminster.’ Yet none of the three re- compel Bowen to retire from political bour Party in three-cornered contests. maining Welsh Liberal MPs actively en- life, conjecture which was emphatically All three MPs increased their majorities dorsed the campaign’s activities, Bowen repudiated by the Member. in , but none was the beneficiary of years later attributing his reluctance to In May Roderic Bowen faced a formal ‘Lib–Con’ electoral pact as was participate to his view that ‘there were the Cardiganshire electorate for the Donald Wade at Huddersfield West (a too many political viewpoints repre- fourth general election in succession, perpetuation of the ‘Huddersfield ar- sented’ within the movement. Gener- again opposed only by a Labour con- rangement’ instituted in ) and ally Bowen had tended to favour the tender, in the person of D. J. Davies. But Arthur Holt at Bolton West. It was gen- grant of Dominion status to Wales. Pre- the campaign was a more heated erally felt, however, that Clement Davies sumably Clem Davies’s taxing role as affair than the previous contests, char- and Roderic Bowen would have held party leader during the years of the acterised by notably venomous per- on even if they had faced Conservative Welsh Parliament movement prevented sonal attacks. Bowen had represented
28 Journal of Liberal Democrat History 34/35 Spring/Summer 2002 the county in parliament for nigh on impressive personal victory. No Con- Grimond, who had come to promi- ten years. Almost immediately upon his servative contender appeared in the other nence at Westminster as his party’s chief first election in , however, he had five Liberal seats (the only divisions in the whip since , was considered gener- resumed his practice at the Bar and had whole of the United Kingdom which ally ‘craggier and capable of stirring the built up an extensive and lucrative legal they did not contest), again the result of a faithful with dramatic conference business in south Wales. In , at ‘Lib–Con’ electoral pact at Bolton West speeches’. Indeed, Davies may well barely thirty-nine years of age, he took and Huddersfield West. Once again have held on until the autumn of silk, an accolade all the more notable Bowen recorded the highest majority of against his better judgement to allow because he was the first Welshman to the six Liberals, just ahead of veteran party Grimond an opportunity to serve his become a QC for fully sixty years. He leader Clement Davies, who polled , apprenticeship and win his spurs as party had been appointed Recorder of Car- more votes than his sole Labour oppo- whip. At the party assembly Grimond diff in and Recorder of Merthyr nent. None of the six had experienced an first nominated Bowen for the party Tydfil in . His appearances in his especially close shave. leadership, but Bowen, sensing that his constituency declined, he became slack During the winter of – rival was the popular choice of the vast at attending to correspondence and Clement Davies had suffered a serious majority of delegates, promptly nomi- spoke in the Commons only sparingly, illness and had been forced to spend nated him for the top job. Predictably it generally on legal matters or Welsh af- much of the ensuing spring recuperat- was Grimond who won the day, but fairs, subjects of especial interest to him. ing. His involvement in the elec- Bowen still appears to have harboured a He was absent from many debates of tion campaign, both nationally and in grudge, pointedly boycotting the next importance to his constituents, and Montgomeryshire, was minimal. Liberal Party assembly by taking advan- generally seemed to support the Con- Thereafter he faced mounting pressure tage of a free trip to the United States. servative government in the division to retire from the party leadership, for Thereafter relations between the two lobbies. Although he had become it was widely felt throughout the Lib- men were distinctly frosty – Grimond President of the Liberal Party of Wales eral Party that more assertive, radical, did not once even refer to Bowen in his in , and was to be elected chairman dynamic helmsmanship was essential. extensive Memoirs published in – of the Welsh Parliamentary Party in Davies at first seemed reluctant to and, when he accepted the position of , there was a widespread feeling yield, but eventually announced his re- Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means that in his heart of hearts Bowen pre- tirement at the October party as- (ex officio the second Deputy Speaker of ferred his highly lucrative legal career sembly at Folkestone. The natural suc- the Commons) years later in , to his political and parliamentary work. cessor, by background, temperament Bowen may have been motivated to At D. J. Davies’s adoption meeting at and dedication, was Jo Grimond. Sir some extent by feelings of revenge the end of April , D. J. Jones, the Rhys Hopkin Morris, now fully sixty- against Grimond and the Liberal Party president of the Cardiganshire Labour eight years of age, totally lacking in hierarchy. Party, accused Bowen of being the latest political ambition, and hamstrung by Moreover, murmurs of discontent in- in a long line of ‘playboy’ MPs to repre- his official position as Deputy Chair- tensified within Cardiganshire. Early in sent Cardiganshire: ‘No man can pursue a man of Ways and Means, was immedi- some members of the Aberystwyth private career and do justice to his con- ately ruled out of the succession. Both Town Council expressed their concern stituents at the same time. No man can be Arthur Holt and Donald Wade owed that Bowen did not participate in the in Cardiff and Westminster at the same their continued re-election to local debate on the Rating and Valuation Bill, time.’ Bowen responded at his adoption Conservative support within their thus failing to advance the claims of the meeting by quoting from the Year- constituencies, and should this be county and borough, local councillor book of the Cardiganshire branch of the withdrawn, they faced electoral defeat, Elfed Williams protesting, ‘Unfortu- National Farmers’ Union: ‘Cardiganshire a situation clearly wholly unacceptable nately the Member for Cardiganshire is extremely fortunate in its MP, he was for the leader of a national party. That was not there, and Cardiganshire’s views first elected in , and the trust reposed left only Grimond and Bowen. were not pressed.’ Again rumours cir- in him by the electors has been amply re- Many Welsh Liberals began to press culated both in the constituency and at warded for he has always served the Roderic Bowen’s claims as the cham- Westminster that the Member would county well.’ In a straight fight with La- pion of the tiny party’s right wing, ever not seek the Liberal nomination at the bour, the outcome was never in any real extolling as he did the virtues of private next general election. The conjecture doubt, although Bowen’s majority was enterprise and the re-introduction of was sharply repudiated by Roderic reduced somewhat to ,. Somehow, in flogging, strikingly at odds with Bowen: ‘It’s all twaddle and nonsense. It’s spite of an appalling Gallup rating of only Grimond’s radical anti-Conservative a hardy annual put up by the Labour per cent at the beginning of the election leanings which had led to his frequently boys when things are quiet. Where did campaign, and a total of no more than advocating a ‘Lib–Lab’ pact. Most of the you hear about it?’ Soon he found candidates, all six Liberal MPs held party faithful, however, felt that a Bowen himself one of only five Liberal MPs at on, although only one of these – Jo leadership, like that of Clement Davies, the Commons as Carmarthenshire fell Grimond (Orkney & Shetland) – sur- would have been ‘soft and round, and to Labour after a hotly contested by- vived a three-cornered contest, an enveloped in a cloud of words’. election in February following the
Journal of Liberal Democrat History 34/35 Spring/Summer 2002 29 death of Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris. The It is my belief that the time has come in previous elections.’ A novel dimen- pain for the Liberals was all the greater as when we should ask the Member of sion was provided by the first-ever the Labour victor was Lady Megan Parliament to give all his time to Par- Plaid Cymru candidature in Lloyd George, Liberal MP for Anglesey liament for the benefit of the people Cardiganshire’s history, in the person of until October and a convert to so- of Cardiganshire. In these days when Dr Gareth Evans, a native of the county cialism only since April . Within the tempo of all things has increased and a Swansea lecturer. But the Labour Liberal ranks she was widely viewed as a so much, the value of a Member of campaign did not receive the recogni- ‘defector’; during the intense by-elec- Parliament to his constituents lies in tion at the polls so widely anticipated, tion campaign respected party elder his being part of a pressure group, and and Roderic Bowen was again re- statesman Lord Samuel had felt impelled his influence in that group depends in elected by a majority of , votes to warn Carmarthenshire Liberals not to no small measure on the amount of over Labour. Like other Liberal MPs support Lady Megan. hard work he puts in on behalf of his such as Arthur Holt and Donald Wade, The all-time low point of five Liberal constituents. he had been returned, for the third time MPs remained for more than a year. In in succession, with the tacit support of In order that MPs can do this, their many constituencies the party’s organi- local Conservative sympathisers. This salaries have been raised to £, sation was stagnant, financial resources was, however, to be the last occasion on per year and expenses. Parliament is were hopelessly inadequate, there were which this happened. Local socialists, the only place where a person can get only thirty salaried party agents although grievously disappointed at the £, and expenses, and turn up for throughout Britain, and there remained outcome of the election, realisti- work when he likes or not at all. If a desperate need for the strengthening cally saw the presence of at least ‘a hard any other worker did that he would and overhaul of the party’s research de- core of , Labour voters’ in get the sack. partment to devise radical and progres- Cardiganshire and were spurred to re- sive new policies. At the end of April The time has come when MPs should double their efforts. Jo Grimond spoke at Aberystwyth, be asked to give their whole time to As a new decade – the s – be- a rousing speech which underlined the Parliament or not at all. No man can gan, the political life of remote, largely need for a measure of electoral reform to serve two masters; he will neglect one rural Cardiganshire inevitably became enable support for the Liberal Party to master, and love the other. much less insular. The influence of be reflected in the composition of the nonconformity and temperance de- One of the questions the Labour Commons, but, revealing his left-wing mands seemed much less relevant to the Party asked our Prospective Candi- leanings, he went on, ‘It would be disas- new generation. Distinctive local and date was: ‘Are you prepared to devote trous for this country if all non-Socialists regional problems came to the fore, the whole of your time to Parliament simply made a “cynical pact” to keep the crystallised in proposals for the reor- if you are elected?’ Mrs Loti Rees Labour Party out of office.’ ganisation of Welsh local government Hughes has given a firm promise that As yet another general election and calls for a development corporation she would do so. loomed, the secretary of the South Wales for mid-Wales. In the wake of the infa- Liberal Federation wrote to the party’s So I say to you in Cardiganshire, mous ‘Beeching axe’, the key Aberyst- county organiser in Cardiganshire, ‘I am when the General Election comes, wyth–Carmarthen railway line, a vital very glad to know … that there is so vote for Loti Hughes and get a full- life-line in mid-Wales, ceased to carry much activity in your Constituency time MP for Cardiganshire. passengers. Nationalist impulses crystal- which might well be described as the lised locally in the earliest protests dur- Again Bowen’s disappointing and in- safest seat held by a Liberal member.’ ing of the fledgling Cymdeithas yr consistent voting record in the Com- Again, for the third general election in Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language So- mons lobbies was carefully scrutinised; succession, local Conservatives resolved ciety), blocking the traffic over the during the – parliamentary ses- to stand aside, almost assuring Roderic bridge near Aberystwyth and plastering sion he had voted in only out of a Bowen of re-election. But local Social- the town’s main post office with notices total possible divisions, he had sup- ists had secured a formidable and viva- demanding official status for the Welsh ported the government on occasions cious candidate in Mrs Loti Rees language. A contrary view soon sur- and the Labour opposition on . It Hughes, a long-serving member of the faced in protests from non-Welsh would appear that the Labour Party or- Carmarthenshire County Council, speakers at the increasing preponder- ganisation in Cardiganshire and nation- whose husband, Alderman W. Douglas ance of Welsh language television ally entertained genuine aspirations of Hughes, was the local political agent to broadcasts which they could not avoid. victory; in the words of local party Jim Griffiths MP for Llanelli. Once Roderic Bowen did not change his agent Ron Bundock, ‘We are going to again there was criticism of Roderic style of representation one iota. His ap- shock Cardiganshire, the country and Bowen for taking a ‘part-time’ attitude pearances in the constituency were few Transport House. I am extremely confi- to his political work, county Labour and fleeting, his participation in Com- dent and the reports coming in each day Party president D. J. Davies asserting to mons debates a rarity, his political life are encouraging. The feeling in the his party’s annual general meeting at the clearly taking at best second place to his county is different to any I have known end of February that: ever-increasing legal activities. During the
30 Journal of Liberal Democrat History 34/35 Spring/Summer 2002 – parliamentary session he took part in only out of a total of divi- sions. In the latter year he took up the po- sition of Recorder of Swansea, and in was appointed Recorder of Cardiff. From , following in the footsteps of Clement Davies QC, he also became chairman of the Montgomeryshire Quarter Sessions, a position he held until . When he was present in the Com- mons, his attention was absorbed prima- rily by his strong anti-nuclear views and his opposition to the British invasion of Egypt in . Described by the Manchester Guard- ian in as ‘one of the most success- ful advocates at the Welsh bar’, his po- litical impact was much less. Indeed by the early s Bowen seemed to many to be the last in a long line of suc- cessful Welsh barristers who simply doubled up as a Liberal MP. In August and again in June he spoke briefly in the Commons on the need to introduce industrial initiatives into mid-Wales, strengthen the authority of the Development Commissioners and tackle the vexed problem of rural de- population. But such interventions were rare, brief and made little lasting impression. In August the secre- tary of the North Wales Liberal Federa- tion wrote critically of Emlyn Hooson, who in May had succeeded Clement Davies as MP for Montgomeryshire, ‘I am inclined to think he ought to spend more time on his job as Member of Parliament or else March ) and Jeremy Thorpe – the that the Deputy Speaker, Dr Horace we shall have another Roderic Bowen MP for Cardiganshire now enjoyed by King (Labour, Itchen), would succeed, … one who does not spend much time far the smallest majority. In the same and that the Deputy Chairman of Ways in his constituency.’ contest, Tory intervention simultane- and Means, Sir Samuel Storey (Con- As disenchantment with Bowen ously unseated Arthur Holt at Bolton servative, Stretford), would in turn be- grew, Labour were spurred to redouble West and Donald Wade at Huddersfield come Deputy Speaker. This would then their local efforts, opening a new West. Bowen’s total poll had fallen by leave vacant the position of Deputy county headquarters at Aberystwyth more than , votes and Labour Chairman of Ways and Means (who was and chosing long-serving local presi- could scent the prospect of victory. The ex officio the second Deputy Speaker). dent David John Davies as their pro- MP for Cardiganshire was unlikely, it The ideal solution for the beleaguered spective parliamentary candidate. In was felt, to mend his ways. Labour administration was to persuade a October Cardiganshire became a Events soon took a bizarre turn with Liberal MP to accept the position. Most marginal constituency. The decision of the sudden death of the Speaker of the of these lacked the long experience nec- the Conservatives to put up their own House of Commons, Sir Harry Hylton- essary of Commons procedures, but two candidate for the first time since , Foster, as he walked along Duke Street, did not – the party leader, Jo Grimond, coupled with the national swing to La- St James’s, London SW, on September and Roderic Bowen, veteran MP of bour, cut Bowen’s majority sharply to . The question of his successor nigh on twenty years. . Of the five Liberal MPs who had caused a crisis for Harold Wilson’s La- It was considered unthinkable for stood successfully for re-election – bour government, which had a tiny Grimond even to countenance the va- Bowen, Jo Grimond, Emlyn Hooson, overall majority of only three seats in the cancy; he had no successor as Liberal Eric Lubbock (the Orpington victor of Commons. It was widely anticipated Party leader. But Bowen demurred.
Journal of Liberal Democrat History 34/35 Spring/Summer 2002 31 He had much to lose – he still enjoyed a After all, what had Bowen to gain selection as the Labour candidate for flourishing, highly lucrative practice at personally? He had made enormous Cardiganshire. He enjoyed a network the Bar as a QC and Leader of the material sacrifices in return for a mod- of family contacts throughout the Wales and Chester Circuit and the sta- est parliamentary salary of £,, plus north of the county, and appeared to tus and salary of Recorder of Swansea. the standard parliamentary allowance of enjoy extensive Plaid Cymru support Discussions followed between Ted £, which was available to all MPs. in spite of his change of allegiance. Short and Eric Lubbock, the govern- To add insult to injury, he had accepted Bowen seemed to make even less effort ment and Liberal chief whips. Bowen’s Wilson’s offer without even consulting than in previous election campaigns, name was mooted, but most prominent Jo Grimond, and had angered most of undertook but little canvassing, and was Liberals did not disguise their annoy- his fellow Liberal MPs whose voting content to rely on the county’s Liberal ance, reluctant ‘to run the risk of losing strength was consequently reduced tradition and his bedrock of loyal sup- their electoral identity by consenting to from ten to nine. Of the Parliamentary porters. Ominously, Jo Grimond re- an expedient arrangement in which Liberal Party, only fellow Welshman fused to send his colleague a personal they would take the responsibility of Emlyn Hooson and David Steel, the letter of support during the crucial prolonging the Government’s life with- newest Liberal MP, came out in support election campaign although asked to do out having any say in what the Govern- of his decision to accept the office. so by the president of the Cardiganshire ment does’. It was well known that Bowen may have been looking to get Liberal Association, and this became there was little love lost between the his own back on Grimond for taking well known in the constituency during two senior Liberal MPs, Grimond the party leadership nine years earlier. the campaign. On this occasion La- commenting pointedly that the deci- He may have been eyeing the Speaker’s bour swept to victory by votes, sion was purely a personal one for chair, for which he was reasonably well capturing no fewer than of the Bowen. Desperately anxious to avoid suited, or he may have hoped that Welsh constituencies, a record high an early general election at an unfa- Harold Wilson would one day reward never repeated before or since, its dra- vourable time for his government, him with a judgeship, perhaps even a matic breakthrough in Cardiganshire Harold Wilson (who had just told peerage on his eventual retirement extending its hegemony over all the George Brown, his secretary of state for from the House of Commons. If so, he constituencies of the western seaboard economic affairs, that their govern- miscalculated badly; only very minor of Wales. Cardiganshire was one of ment’s economic policies amounted to rewards, in the form of service on pub- eleven constituencies captured by La- ‘a pretty dismal and gloomy set of lic bodies in his later career, lay ahead. bour in which it had never previ- squeezes’, necessitating the introduc- The peerage which many expected ously held. To some extent the loss of tion of measures ‘of a popular and him to receive never materialised. Cardiganshire, held continuously by the heart-warming character’) probably Roderic Bowen’s decision came at a Liberals ever since , was offset by cajoled Bowen into accepting the va- particularly vexed time for his party, es- four Liberal gains, among them Colne cant position. pecially in its relationship with the La- Valley (Richard Wainwright), North The decision horrified most of Bo- bour government, a theme which had Cornwall (John Pardoe) and Cheadle wen’s Liberal colleagues at Westminster, dominated the Liberal assembly only the (Dr Michael Winstanley). and many staunch Liberals in previous month. Jo Grimond, ever ready Although the writing had been on Cardiganshire, where his motives were to consider any amicable working ar- the wall since at least October , keenly debated during the ensuing rangement with Labour, anticipated Roderic Bowen was, it seems, still disap- general election campaign. Here possible ‘real enthusiasm’ for ‘common pointed by his defeat. At only fifty-two was a firmly right-wing MP, his policies aims behind which a majority could years of age, at the height of his powers close to the Tories in many respects, unite’, but, he went on, ‘The throwing of and political maturity, with more than propping up an ailing Labour govern- life-belts to a sinking Government is not thirty-five years of life still ahead of him, ment clearly up against the ropes, ever a job I would welcome.’ Bowen, it ap- he shunned party politics thereafter, liable to collapse. ‘The Prime Minister peared, had indeed thrown a life-belt to rarely venturing to the county. has brought off his coup’, rejoiced La- Wilson’s government. In the wake of his defeat, he was sent bour Minister of Housing and diarist In any case, his parliamentary career by Foreign Secretary George Brown to Richard Crossman, ‘Our majority of was drawing to a close. Ever since Oc- Aden to investigate interrogation pro- three has not been cut to one!’ Bo- tober the Labour Party hierarchy cedures in the British colony, which wen’s decision immediately nourished had considered Cardiganshire a crucial had been subject to international criti- speculation about a possible ‘Lib–Lab’ marginal which lay within their grasp. cism, notably by Amnesty International. pact at Westminster and confirmed the Their new parliamentary candidate was His report found, by implication, that Prime Minister’s well established repu- Elystan Morgan, an articulate young the claims were exaggerated, though tation as a dextrous political manipula- lawyer who had actually stood as the not baseless, and proposed a number of tor, capable of out-manoeuvring the Plaid Cymru candidate at Wrexham in changes to ensure that they did not re- newly elected Conservative leader Ted and and Merionethshire in cur. Bowen’s report was admirable as far Heath and the opposition, a master par , and who had changed parties as it went. Its terms of reference, how- excellence of the ‘politics of survival’. only in August , shortly before his ever, were perhaps too limited. He was
32 Journal of Liberal Democrat History 34/35 Spring/Summer 2002 asked to decide whether particular best irregularly, participating in debate 1950. cases of alleged ill-treatment were true but rarely. 9 Lord Hooson, Rebirth or Death? Liberalism in Wales in the Second Half of the Twentieth Cen- or not, and he did hear the point of A warm admirer of Sir Rhys Hopkin tury, the 1993 Welsh Political Archive Lecture view of the former investigators. Morris, Bowen’s Liberal credentials (Aberystwyth: the National Library of Wales, In Bowen became National In- were impeccable, reflected in his unwa- 1994), p. 2. 10 NLW, Cardiganshire Liberal Association Records, surance Commissioner for Wales, re- vering belief in the responsibility of the no. 1, minute book, 1923–50, AGM minutes, 8 signing his position as Recorder of individual and the duty of each one to November 1947. Cardiff, and he remained in the post contribute to the betterment of society. 11 Ibid., executive committee minutes, 19 February 1949. until . In the spring of he was Although veering generally to the right 12 NLW, Cardiganshire Liberal Association Records, appointed chairman of a governmental in the political spectrum, sharply op- no. 1, minute book, 1923–50, executive commit- committee charged to examine road posed to socialism and communism, he tee minutes, 28 May 1949, AGM minutes, 29 Oc- signs policy in Wales set up by Peter was just as dismissive of the claims of tober 1949. 13 NLW, Clement Davies Papers J3/10 and J3/12, Thomas, Secretary of State for Wales in those vested interests championed by Davies to Sinclair, 6 and 17 January 1950 (copies). the Heath Government, in response to the Conservative Party. Bowen’s Welsh 14 Cambrian News, 17 February 1950. a campaign for bilingualism spear- patriotism was beyond question, re- 15 Election address of E. R. Bowen, February 1950. 16 Election address of E. R. Bowen, October 1951. headed by Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg flected in his stalwart support for equal- 17 The Times, 31 March 1951, p. 4. On election (the Welsh Language Society). The ity for Wales with Scotland and for ‘pacts’ in 1951 and reactions to them, see also committee took its work seriously, even Welsh representation in the Cabinet, a Roy Douglas, The History of the Liberal Party, 1895–1970 (London, 1971), p. 262. travelling to Finland and other coun- commitment recognised by both the 18 Cambrian News, 19 October 1951. tries to contrast the situation there, and National Eisteddfod, which he at- 19 Alan Butt Philip, The Welsh Question: National- its majority report, which appeared in tended regularly, and the University of ism in Welsh Politics, 1945–1970 (Cardiff, 1975), the autumn of , was generally in Wales. An individual of deep religious p. 259. 20 Welsh Nation, May 1956. favour of bilingual signs: ‘The chief ar- convictions, he became a deacon of the 21 Western Mail, 1 December 1952. guments hinge on the place of Welsh in Presbyterian church. A life-long bach- 22 Welsh Gazette, 5 November 1953. Wales, on the principle of “natural jus- elor, tending in his last years to be a rec- 23 NLW, Cardiganshire Liberal Association Records, file 56, memorandum entitled ‘The Importance of tice” for the Welsh language.’ From luse living frugally in a small flat in the the Next Six Months’, dated 1954. to Bowen also served as a Welsh capital and suffering from dete- 24 Welsh Gazette, 29 July 1954. conscientious president of St David’s riorating health, Roderic Bowen died 25 Western Mail, 19 April 1955. 26 Cambrian News, 29 April 1955. University College, Lampeter. at Cardiff on July . 27 Welsh Gazette, 13 May 1955. Apart from his brief brushes with Dr J. Graham Jones is an assistant archivist 28 For a somewhat negative view of Liberal Party at- fame in and , Roderic Bo- titudes to Clement Davies at this time, see of the Welsh Political Archive at the Depart- wen’s impact at Westminster was mini- Geoffrey Sell, ‘”A sad business”: The resignation ment of Manuscripts and records, the Na- of Clement Davies’, Journal of Liberal Democrat mal, yet he was generally popular with tional Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. History 24 (Autumn 1999), 14–17. politicians of all parties and his relaxed 29 The phrases are taken from Bowen’s obituary by bonhomie and quick repartee in the The author is grateful to Robert Ingham for Andrew Roth in The Guardian, 25 July 2001, p. 20. Douglas, op. cit., p. 268, dismisses Bowen as smoking rooms of the Commons stood reading an earlier draft of this article with ‘too busy with his legal practice’ even to consider in striking contrast to his serious, tight- meticulous care and for making a number of the vacant party leadership. lipped professional demeanour when most helpful suggestions for its revision; and 30 Cambrian News, 15 February 1957. 31 NLW, Cardiganshire Liberal Association Records, acting in the courts. A potentially is indebted to him for sending me a detailed file 135, unlabelled press cutting. amusing and clever debater, capable of summary of his interview with Roderic 32 See NLW, Clement Davies Papers C1/107, W. H. gracing Liberal platforms with wit and Bowen on July . Grey to Lord Byers, 10 March 1958 (copy). Jo distinction, he was much sought after as Grimond’s decisive contribution was to set up a 1 National Library of Wales (hereafter NLW), number of new policy committees, each with an after-dinner speaker. He remained a Cardiganshire Liberal Association Records, no. 1, specific areas of responsibility, to devise radical Liberal MP throughout the long, ardu- minute book, 1923–50, minutes of special meet- novel policies. ous years of Clement Davies’s leader- ing, 16 June 1945. 33 Cambrian News, 2 May 1958. 2 Cambrian News, 29 June 1945. 34 NLW, Cardiganshire Liberal Association Records, ship of the party from , but had lit- 3 Cambrian News, 29 June 1945. file 56, J. Ellis Williams, honorary secretary of the tle rapport with Davies’s successor Jo 4 Cambrian News, 3 August 1945. South Wales Liberal Federation, to E. Jones, 11 Grimond who, in Bowen’s view, 5The phrase is that used in NLW, Clement Davies February 1959. Papers Q4/126, ‘Ifor’, Cambridge, to Stanley 35 J. Graham Jones, ‘The Cardiganshire election of seemed intent on seeking ‘a realign- Clement-Davies, 20 June 1945. I am most grate- 1959’, Ceredigion, Vol. 12, no. 2 (1994), 84–105. ment of the Left’ in British politics. A ful to Mr Stanley Clement-Davies, London, for There is much valuable material on this intriguing lack of mutual understanding and ad- permission to make use of his father’s papers. contest in the Deian R. Hopkin Papers at the Na- miration between these two senior Lib- 6 See David M. Roberts, ‘Clement Davies and the tional Library of Wales. Liberal Party, 1929–56’, unpublished University 36 Welsh Gazette, 5 March 1959. eral MPs resulted. Hence Bowen be- of Wales MA thesis, 1975, pp. 87–92; J. Graham 37 NLW, Deian R. Hopkin Papers, file 135, John came increasingly aloof and detached Jones, ‘The Liberal Party and Wales, 1945–79’, Milwood, Labour Party research department, to from the vortex of political life at West- Welsh History Review, Vol. 16, no. 3 (June 1993), James Griffiths, 20 October 1959. 329–33. 38 Ibid., R. J. Bundock to W. Douglas Hughes, 26 minster, rather on a limb from the 7The phrase is that used in Roberts, ‘Clement September 1959. mainstream of the Parliamentary Lib- Davies’, p. 87. 39 Ibid., file 136, Cardiganshire Labour Party minute eral Party, attending the Commons at 8Victor Thompson in the Daily Herald, 18 March book, 1958–65, entry for 31 October 1959. Cf.
Journal of Liberal Democrat History 34/35 Spring/Summer 2002 33 the Welsh Gazette, 14 November 1959, for a de- 23 July 2001. and Anthony King, The British General Election tailed account of the 1959 AGM of the 47 Richard Crossman, The Diaries of a Cabinet Min- of 1966 (London, 1966), pp. 74–84. Cardiganshire Liberal Association and its reaction ister, Vol. 1: Minister of Housing, 1964–66 (Lon- 50 Howard C. Jones, ‘The Labour Party in to the outcome of the recent general election. don, 1975), p. 362, diary entry for 26 October Cardiganshire’, Ceredigion, Vol. 9, no. 2 (1981), 40 Cited in Bowen’s obituary in The Guardian, 25 1965. 160. July 2001, p. 20. 48 The phrase is that used in Kenneth O. Morgan, 51 See the reflections on the 1966 contest of Dr. E. 41 See the reports in The Times, 3 August 1962, p. The People’s Peace: British History, 1945–1989 G. Millward, the Plaid Cymru candidate, in 6, col. g, and ibid., 26 June 1964, p. 15, col. e. (London, 1990), p. 250. Golwg, vol. 13, no. 46 (26 July 2001), 6. See also 42 NLW, Lord Ogmore Papers, file 3, Margaret J. 49 Jo Grimond, ‘The Liberals and the Government’, the text of the Robert Ingham interview with Lawson, secretary of the North Wales Liberal Guardian, 20 September 1965. See also Alan Roderic Bowen, 26 July 1995. Federation, to Lord Ogmore, 3 August 1964. Watkins, ‘Mr Grimond spells it out’, The Specta- 52 See Liberal News, 7 April 1966, and The Times, 1 43 See The Times, 3 September 1965, p. 10, cols. tor, 24 September 1965, for an astute commen- April 1966, p. 12, col. a. a–b. tary on the Liberal leader’s views and policies. 53 The Times, 30 November 1972, p. 4, col. f. 44 Liberal News, 17 September 1965, p. 1. There is a perspicacious analysis of the problems 54 There is a thoughtful and warm tribute penned 45 The Times, 14 September 1965, p. 10, cols. c–e. facing the Liberal Party during these years in ‘The by Lord (Emlyn) Hooson in Liberal Democrat 46 Cited in Bowen’s obituary in the Daily Telegraph, Liberal predicament’, chapter IV of D. E. Butler News, no. 675 (7 September 2001), 4.
Research in Progress If you can help any of the individuals listed below with sources, contacts, or any other information — or if you know anyone who can — please pass on details to them. Details of other research projects in progress should be sent to the Editor (see page 2) for inclusion here.
The party agent and English electoral culture, c.1880 – c.1906. The Crouch End or Hornsey Liberal Association or Young Liberals in the development of political agency as a profession, the role of the 1920s and 1930s; especially any details of James Gleeson or Patrick election agent in managing election campaigns during this period, Moir, who are believed to have been Chairmen. Tony Marriott, Flat and the changing nature of elections, as increased use was made of A, 13 Coleridge Road, Crouch End, London N8 8EH. the press and the platform. Kathryn Rix, Christ's College, Liberal foreign policy in the 1930s. Focussing particularly on Liberal Cambridge, CB2 2BU; [email protected]. anti-appeasers. Michael Kelly, 12 Collinbridge Road, Whitewell, Liberal policy towards Austria-Hungary, 1905–16. Andrew Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim BT36 7SN Gardner, 22 Birdbrook House, Popham Road, Islington, London N1 The Liberal Party and the wartime coalition 1940–45. Sources, 8TA; [email protected]. particularly on Sinclair as Air Minister, and on Harcourt Johnstone, The Hon H. G. Beaumont (MP for Eastbourne 1906–10). Any Dingle Foot, Lord Sherwood and Sir Geoffrey Maunder (Sinclair's information welcome, particularly on his political views (he stood as PPS) particularly welcome. Ian Hunter, 9 Defoe Avenue, Kew, a Radical). Tim Beaumont, 40 Elms Road, London SW4 9EX. Richmond TW9 4DL; [email protected].
Edmund Lamb (Liberal MP for Leominster 1906–10). Any Clement Davies – research for the first full biography. Of particular information on his election and period as MP; wanted for biography interest are the activities of government departments where of his daughter, Winfred Lamb. Dr David Gill, Clement Davies worked in the First World War, including Enemy [email protected]. Activities in Neutral Countries, Economic Warfare and Trading with the Enemy; also the period 1939–42, after Davies left the Liberal Joseph King (Liberal MP for North Somerset during the Great War). Nationals but before he rejoined the independent Liberals, and his Any information welcome, particularly on his links with the Union relationships with MacDonald, Boothby, Attlee and Churchill. Alun of Democratic Control and other opponents of the war (including Wyburn-Powell; [email protected]. his friend George Raffalovich). Colin Houlding; [email protected] The Unservile State Group, 1953–1970s. Dr Peter Barberis, 24 Lime Avenue, Flixton, Manchester M41 5DE. The political life and times of Josiah Wedgwood MP. Study of the political life of this radical MP, hoping to shed light on the question The Young Liberal Movement 1959–1985; including in particular of why the Labour Party replaced the Liberals as the primary relations with the leadership, and between NLYL and ULS. Carrie popular representatives of radicalism in the 1920s. Park, 89 Coombe Lane, Bristol BS9 2AR; Paul Mulvey, 112 Richmond Avenue, London N1 0LS; [email protected]. [email protected]. The revival of the Liberal Party in the 1960s and ‘70s; including the Recruitment of Liberals into the Conservative Party, 1906–1935. relationships between local and parliamentary electoral Aims to suggest reasons for defections of individuals and develop performance. Access to party records (constituency- and ward- an understanding of changes in electoral alignment. Sources level) relating to local activity in London and Birmingham, and include personal papers and newspapers; suggestions about how interviews with key activists of particular interest. Paul Lambe, to get hold of the papers of more obscure Liberal defectors University of Plymouth; [email protected]. welcome. Cllr Nick Cott, 1a Henry Street, Gosforth, Newcastle- The political and electoral strategy of the Liberal Party 1970–79. upon-Tyne, NE3 1DQ; [email protected]. Individual constituency papers, and contact with members of the Liberals and the local government of London 1919–39. Chris Fox, Party’s policy committees and/or the Party Council, particularly 173 Worplesdon Road, Guildford GU2 6XD; welcome. Ruth Fox, 7 Mulberry Court, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts [email protected]. CM23 3JW.
34 Journal of Liberal Democrat History 34/35 Spring/Summer 2002