‘An out-of-date word’ Grimond and the Left Jo Grimond is the Liberal leader most often associated with attempts to realign British politics on the left, to create what he foresaw as ‘a new progressive movement’ taking in ‘the Liberals and most of the Labour Party’.1 On three occasions during his leadership he stirred up controversy in the Liberal Party by predicting or suggesting such a hen he stepped Pact ten years later, Grimond was down as leader, amongst the more apprehensive development, and the party had not members of the parliamentary yet never achieved established any party. In his Memoirs Grimond closer relation- makes little mention of it. any change. Matt shipW with Labour, and, although Why did a leader of Grimond’s its image and recruitment had in dynamism repeatedly embark Cole examines the some ways moved leftwards, this on this strategy, and then each relationship between had not significantly altered its time abandon it? Alan Watkins electoral base or its parliamentary expressed the bemusement of the Liberals and those representation. Grimond him- many commentators looking back self fought shy of such links when on Grimond’s career and his failed of what Grimond opportunities to establish them bids for realignment: called ‘an out of date seemed to arise, and even when cooperation with Labour politi- At two recent periods – in word’2 – the left. cians came about in the Lib–Lab 1959–61 and in 1964–66 – there

50 Journal of Liberal History 67 Summer 2010 ‘An out-of-date word’ Grimond and the Left

was a chance that, given reso- Before realignment politics. Figure 1 shows that in lute action by Mr. Grimond, There is a good deal of evidence the Commons, though he was a start might have been made that Grimond’s personal poli- slightly less reliable as a supporter on the radical alliance. Admit- tics were, as he claimed, strongly of Conservative measures than tedly the circumstances were progressive. In an unpublished his colleagues, Grimond joined not ideal; they never are; but passage of his Memoirs, he remem- in the Liberal MPs’ general pat- they were the best that Mr. bered that as a young man in the tern of voting predominantly Grimond could reasonably early 1930s ‘with my upbringing with the Conservatives. For at have expected. However, Mr. and temperament, it would have least one division he acted as a Grimond waited on events. been difficult not to be a Liberal. teller on the Conservative side of He gave reasons for not act- But I might I suppose have joined the lobby, and he was described ing. The Labour Party had the Labour Party.’4 In the euphoric in correspondence between Lib- made no approaches: the party atmosphere following the Sec- eral National and Conserva- was still committed to public ond World War and the arrival tive leaders as ‘very sensible and ownership: the time was not in office of a Labour government, well-balanced.’6 yet: there must be a real meet- he recalled later that ‘we were This apparent ‘drift to the ing of minds, and not a hastily all to some extent socialists’ and right’, as Megan Lloyd George concocted arrangement. But that ‘I had rosier visions of what called it, was a feature of the Lib- politicians cannot afford to might be achieved by govern- eral Party generally at the time, await the miraculous arrival of ments on behalf of communities.’5 reflected in the electoral pacts at a perfect world. They cannot He was, unlike any of his parlia- Bolton and Huddersfield, and in afford to wait until Parliament mentary colleagues in the 1950s, Churchill’s courtship of Clement is reformed and the machin- always opposed at the polls by Davies, and it was a trend from ery of government overhauled the Conservatives, and he voted the consequences of which Gri- and the Labour Party altered against the Conservative govern- mond could not isolate himself. in character. They must take ment in parliamentary divisions At a time of potentially fatal vul- things as they find them. And more often than any other Liberal nerability for Liberals, they could this Mr. Grimond, perhaps to MP between 1951 and becom- hardly decline to at least humour his credit, has always refused ing leader, and when he became Conservative approaches, and to do.3 leader the votes of Liberal MPs attempts by Basil Wigoder, A. P. were cast much more evenly Marshall and a group of MPs led Watkins points to a number fac- between government and opposi- by Megan Lloyd George to forge tors, but emphasises the judgment tion (see Figure 1). Grimond was a link with Labour had met with of Grimond himself in this mys- supportive of the Radical Reform contemptuous rejection before tery. An examination of opinion Group formed in 1954 to resist 1951.8 After that Lord Thurso and in the parties around him, how- the growing influence of libertar- Sir Andrew MacFadyean were ever, shows that realignment was ian free-market economists in the similarly rebuffed.9 Even upon inherently implausible, and that Liberal Party, becoming its Presi- taking up the leadership in 1956, – to the extent that it is significant dent in 1958. Left: ‘He needs Grimond did not change his tone – Grimond’s personality and per- However, this implied left- me’: Harold or that of the party substantially. sonal political philosophy account ward disposition does not seem Wilson and Jo Official policy had been set very for the attempt as much as for the to have affected Grimond’s over- Grimond (The clearly against any national pacts failure of realignment. all approach to parliamentary Guardian, 1965) in 1955, and an early series of

Journal of Liberal History 67 Summer 2010 51 ‘an out-of-date word’

new Liberal–Labour relationship, ‘even up to a merger’, at a party on the same weekend that Gri- mond gave his interviews,16 and Bill Rodgers found in a discussion with Mark Bonham Carter set up by the Sunday Times to explore the idea of realignment that they ‘reached a surprising measure of agreement’.17 Such an unexpected and con- troversial departure requires expla- nation. Grimond had evidently been amongst those less keen on the role of the Liberals as a prop to Tory governments in the first articles setting out ‘New Liberal’ Figure 1: Conservative victory, he gave half of the decade, and Churchill’s strategy and policy under Gri- Percentage interviews to The Guardian and retirement and the Suez episode mond in Liberal News made no of votes cast The Observer calling for the for- had convinced even those who had mention of realignment.10 Two with the mation of a joint movement of been advocates of a deal with the years later Grimond published The Conservatives Labour and Liberal supporters: Tories that their liberal creden- Liberal Future, in which he gave by Liberal MPs tials had expired. The weakness no hint of any arrangement with in Commons I would like to see the radical of Labour now made an appeal to Labour, but rather asserted that divisions, side of politics – the Liberals the left apparently more promising, ‘Socialists … were prepared to use 1951–637 and most of the Labour Party – and the Labour leader since 1955, the State even if it meant over- make a new appeal to people to Hugh Gaitskell, was already seek- riding personal liberty’, a prin- take an active part in all sorts of ing to reform the party’s approach ciple which had led to the rise of real political issues. There must to trade unions and nationalisa- National Socialism, that national- be a bridge between Socialism tion. Lastly, Grimond now had isation had been ‘a fiasco’ and ‘the and the Liberal policy of co- alongside him in parliament an ally promise of endless welfare bene- ownership in industry through in the campaign for realignment in fits to be handed out by the grand- a type of syndicalism coupled the new MP for North Devon, Jer- mother state … is incompatible with a nonconformist out- emy Thorpe. It was Thorpe who with freedom’, and most wither- look such as was propounded made speeches and wrote a piece ingly that ‘a Liberal must submit on many issues by George in the Evening Standard at this time his beliefs in the private enterprise Orwell.13 reassuring Liberals that their inde- system to a more radical criti- pendence was not under threat, cism than is now provided by the ‘I have always thought there and that it was business as usual for Labour Party.’11 Roger Fulford’s should be a really strong pro- Liberal campaigning regardless of authoritative (though not author- gressive movement as an alterna- realignment. ised) book for the general election tive to Conservatism,’ Grimond Nonetheless, Grimond’s sug- of the same year, The Liberal Case, was reported saying on the front gestions met with anxiety and was studiously equidistant in its page of The People. ‘The elec- rejection in both Liberal and assessment of the relative appeals tion result might well create the Labour Parties and he was forced of the Labour and Conservative atmosphere for this to happen. into a quick rearguard action in Parties in a balanced parliament: At the moment I cannot say that further newspaper interviews and he set out three principles gov- I shall offer any kind of deal to a radio broadcast on Any Ques- erning Liberal cooperation which the Labour Party. But I shall be tions. Opinion at the top of the might affect either party in the meeting certain people next week Labour Party was already hostile same way, starting with a demand and it is likely that the possibility to any relationship with the Liber- for electoral reform to which the of a deal will at least come under als: in a speech the previous year, Labour Party showed no signs of discussion.’ The ‘certain people’, Party General Secretary Mor- responding.12 The priority of Gri- the paper assumed, were his col- gan Phillips had dismissed talk mond’s early period in the leader- leagues in the leadership of the of a deal with the Liberals say- ship, when he sought to ‘get on’, Liberal Party. It was also reported ing that a Labour victory short of was to distinguish the Liberals that private talks were being held overall majority would be ‘disas- from both of the main parties. between Labour MPs to persuade trous’, that the Liberals appealed Gaitskell that ‘the only future to ‘escapism’ and that aspects for Labour lies in sinking Social- of new Liberal campaigning 1959 ism without a trace and embrac- such as torchlight parades were It was only following the 1959 ing a policy of radical reform.’14 ‘unhealthy’.18 A Sunday Times col- general election, with a larger Paul Johnson wrote in the Evening umnist teased Labour support- share of the vote but still only Standard that such a deal was the ers on ‘The Liberal Menace’.19 six MPs, that Grimond openly talk of the Labour Party ‘all over Gaitskell immediately rejected the proposed realignment. Over London (but chiefly in Hamp- advice of Jay and others to con- the weekend following the stead).’15 Douglas Jay advocated a sider a deal.

52 Journal of Liberal History 67 Summer 2010 ‘an out-of-date word’

In the Liberal Party there was coalition and I am merely speak- it should start by a combined also surprise and concern. Some ing for myself.’ A week later he appeal from Gaitskell and Gri- of Grimond’s small band of MPs had scaled down his ambitions to mond through all media of com- were already fearful of his strat- no more than a ‘growing together munication, including television.’ egy and critical of his manage- of radical opinion on some issues He identified ninety-seven seats ment style. Roderic Bowen, who that may come up in the next few where one party should stand had been a Liberal MP since 1945, years.’22 Douglas considers this down: in thirty-six the Labour recalled that he had taken a criti- attempt to distinguish entirely Party; in sixty-one the Liber- cal view of Grimond from the between perception of Liberal als.27 Other individual voices on outset: policy and his own statements the left were also urging coop- to be implausible, but acknowl- eration: Wyatt’s fellow Labour Grimond to my mind was edges that ‘for the time being, the MP Desmond Donnelly publicly really riding two horses. In matter blew over. Perhaps every- supported a deal, and Michael the country and in the Party, one who in other circumstances Shanks had just published his he was saying: ‘The Liberal might have made a fuss was too renowned study The Stagnant Soci- Party is a great party, it’s an exhausted after the general elec- ety, in which he argued that ‘it is independent party, it’s fight- tion. Perhaps they were satisfied not surprising that there has been ing Labour and it’s fighting that reciprocity from the Labour growing support for the idea of Tories tooth and nail, and it’s side was out of the question.’23 A some sort of alliance between the totally independent’. That was mixture of Labour obstruction, Right-wing of the Labour Party the image he was presenting to Liberal resistance and his own and the Liberals. Until this hap- the country. In private, within poor presentation had put paid pens the opposition vote in the the Liberal Party, he was really to Grimond’s first attempt at rea- country will remain divided and saying that the Liberal Party lignment within seven days. the Conservatives will enjoy a should be reduced to a sort of monopoly of power (unless they sphere of influence within the too split). Mr Gaitskell has more Labour Party. 1962 in common in policy and in out- Despite his disappointment, Gri- look with Mr Grimond than with Bowen reassured himself at the mond, according Barberis, ‘con- Mr Cousins.’28 time that ‘I don’t think the Labour tinued to hanker after some sort of Shanks’s reference to Trans- Party really had any use for Gri- alliance or realignment’ and ‘kept port and General Workers’ Union mond. They would have wel- the realignment pot simmering’.24 General Secretary Frank Cousins comed taking the Liberals, which His next opportunity to test reac- highlighted one of the issues – the had become much stronger by tion to Labour–Liberal coop- role of trade unions – which had then of course, under their wing, eration was initiated from the given rise to bitter dispute in the absorbing them; and of course, other side, as those on the Labour Labour Party under Gaitskell, the that involved ingratiating Gri- Right, such as Mark Abrams, others including public ownership mond, but personally I don’t think reflected upon their third elec- and nuclear defence. A reviewer they had any use for Grimond.’20 toral defeat.25 In November 1961, of The Stagnant Society in Liberal Former Young Liberal leader maverick Labour MP Woodrow News wrote reassuringly that ‘Mr and parliamentary candidate Roy Wyatt published a letter in The ‘I have Shanks sees one big difficulty. He Douglas noted that Grimond’s Guardian arguing for an electoral fears that the Liberals are even remarks caused ‘a considerable deal between the parties.26 He set always more anti-trade union than the degree of apprehension and con- out his proposal again in the New Tories. This may have been true cern among the rank and file Statesman the following January: thought 10 years ago, but it is certainly not of the Liberal Party’; and Gri- so now.’29 mond’s biographer agrees that There are many radical neces- there should Grimond’s response to this ‘many party members, after all sities on which Labour and renewed speculation was posi- the splits and secessions of the Liberal supporters are agreed be a really tive, but tempered by his aware- past fifty years, cherished above – the urgent need to raise hous- ness, from the bruising experience all else the party’s independ- ing and education standards, strong pro- of two-and-a-half years earlier, ence’ and that ‘Grimond may be to restore the social services of the dissent which any encour- faulted for giving such an ambigu- to first place in Europe, to gressive agement to Wyatt would pro- ous interview on such a sensitive increase the impetus towards voke within the Liberal Party. topic.’ Grimond told his staff that fair shares of wealth, to step up movement as He re-emphasised that ‘it would he expected the Party Council to help to the aged, to improve an alterna- be intolerable for the country and be critical of his actions.21 Imme- the health service, to stimulate suicide for the parties concerned diately he sought to downplay the British industry with the aid tive to Con- if Liberal and Labour cut each significance of his remarks and of more than the half-hearted other’s throats because of vested the changes he was proposing, planning proposed by the servatism,’ interests when they could work telling The Times on the day the Conservatives. out together a progressive policy Observer interview was published Grimond was broadly acceptable to both.’ At that ‘I was really saying nothing ‘If a Labour–Liberal electoral alli- the same time, however, he main- more than I have been saying on ance is to succeed’ urged Wyatt, reported tained a diplomatic distance by the subject for some time’ and that ‘the ground must be prepared for arguing that Wyatt’s preoccupa- ‘I am not talking about immediate it well in advance. I suggest that saying. tion with seats before policy ‘may

Journal of Liberal History 67 Summer 2010 53 ‘an out-of-date word’ appear both naïve and cynical’.30 You say there is a gulf between policies.’36 As in 1959 and 1962, In some ways conditions were the Liberal and Labour Parties. there was some evidence for Gri- more promising for realignment Correct. You say there is a gulf mond to believe that such an offer than in 1959: Labour revisionists between the Labour Party and would be well received. Orping- had been frustrated by the fail- the new Radicals. Correct. You ton MP Eric Lubbock remem- ure of Gaitskell’s move against say the Labour Party is stuck in bers ‘a lot of Lib-Labbery’ in the Clause IV in 1959, and unnerved Grimond the mud. You want a new Party 1964 parliament, some support for by his need to go to the barricades with new sensible attitudes to which came from ‘the most sur- over defence at the 1960 Labour tried to politics. … You have got it all in prising’ quarters, such as Scottish conference. the Liberal Party.35 Liberal MP George Mackie. Lub- The Conservatives, on the capitalise bock found John Silkin a close and other hand, were now alien- It was the immeasurable strength- sympathetic contact in the Labour ated from Liberal politics: only on these cir- ening of such confidence that Party. The possibility of coop- Central Office intervention had came with the Orpington by- eration boosted morale amongst maintained the electoral pact in cumstances election victory which curtailed Liberal MPs and in some ways Bolton in 1959, and the Liberals saying that this second bout of realign- compensated for the frustrations had broken it at the East Bolton ment speculation. Although this of the election. The Wilson gov- by-election of 1960. The last sen- ‘the divisions brought, in Eric Lubbock, a sup- ernment was engaged in projects ior voice in the party to propose portive colleague into Grimond’s which had Liberal sympathies, not a national deal with the Liberals in politics parliamentary group, it also to say origins, such as the intro- had been Randolph Churchill in emboldened those who wanted duction of an Ombudsman, and 1958 and the Conservative Steer- fall in the to see the Liberals go it alone. ‘we were fully behind rent con- ing Committee had rejected such Two months later, they were fur- trols and race relations legisla- a proposal.31 Despite deteriorating wrong place. ther encouraged by the retention tion.’37 Wilson’s Chief Whip Ted economic conditions, a ragged of Clement Davies’s seat Mont- Short acknowledged ‘the small and remote Tory government was The natural gomeryshire by Emlyn Hooson, a but useful fund of goodwill I had holding its own in the polls and relative right-winger who would built up with the Liberals’ in the even making by-election gains.32 breakdown speak out against later attempts at early stages of the parliament, and In March, Grimond tried to working with Labour. took the view of Steel’s victory at capitalise on these circumstances should be Roxburghshire that ‘as the Liber- saying that ‘the divisions in poli- als voted with us occasionally, this tics fall in the wrong place. The into a Con- 1965 was something of a gain for us.’38 natural breakdown should be into Grimond’s last attempt at estab- As on the previous two occa- a Conservative Party – a small servative lishing a working relationship sions, Grimond almost imme- group of convinced Socialists in between the Liberals and Labour diately met a slammed door of the full sense – and a broadly based Party – a was not principally on policy as Labour indifference, and had the progressive Party. It is the founda- small group in 1959, or an electoral alliance rug pulled from under him by tions of the last named that the as in 1962, but at the parliamen- Liberal objectors, this time more Liberal Party seeks to provide.’33 of convinced tary level. The outcome of the vocal than ever. The National Much of the Liberal Party, 1964 general election had been a League of Young Liberals had however, remained reluctant to Socialists Labour government led by Harold pre-empted the debate by passing provide such a foundation, and Wilson with an overall Com- a resolution at their annual con- Grimond knew it. Even before in the full mons majority of only four seats. ference two months earlier reject- Wyatt’s New Statesman article Although this was tantalisingly ing any form of pact or alliance had hit the news stands, John sense – and close to the balance-of-power with either of the main parties.39 Buchanan, the Liberal candidate situation that Grimond had antici- When The Guardian interview at the Oswestry by-election, had a broadly pated might precipitate coopera- was published – with the sensa- attacked the idea of any Lib–Lab tion between their two parties, it tional headline ‘Coalition Offer deal as ‘wrong politically and based pro- was clear that Wilson would press to Labour from Mr Grimond’ – wrong morally’. He pointed on without seeking support from opinion in the Liberal Party was to the experience of the Liber- gressive outside Labour ranks. at best divided, and critics did not als supporting the 1929 Labour Less than a year into the 1964 keep their counsel. Only two MPs administration, and warned that Party. It is parliament, however, Grimond fully supported the statement, the Liberals ‘would be deluged – buoyed up by the victory of and some of Grimond’s closest by Labour pressure.’ The right the founda- David Steel, another advocate of allies were amongst the critics: approach, he stressed, was ‘to be tions of the inter-party cooperation, at the Arthur Holt, who had lost Bol- strong enough to push the Social- Roxburghshire by-election in ton to Labour in 1964 pleaded that ists into second place. We did it last named March 1965 – gave another press ‘it raises great local difficulties in at Oswestry; we can do it else- interview which raised the pros- some areas where Labour’s image where.’34 This self-confidence was that the pect of the Liberals working with is still moronic and prejudiced. restated by Bolton MP Arthur Labour. This time his sugges- Local Liberals find national level Holt a week after Grimond’s Liberal Party tion was that Liberal MPs might speeches an embarrassment and comments. Though writing to bolster the parliamentary sup- it is vital that the Parliamentary the Editor of the Daily Herald, he seeks to port for the Labour government’s Party keep in closest touch with might equally have been respond- programme in exchange for ‘a the PPCs in these areas.’ In neigh- ing to his party leader: provide.’ serious agreement on long-term bouring Colne Valley, another

54 Journal of Liberal History 67 Summer 2010 ‘an out-of-date word’ keen admirer of Grimond, Rich- Committee offered no mecha- Grimond’s Assessment ard Wainwright, had come within nism for closer cooperation Three questions arise from this 200 votes of winning the seat between the parties;45 and though personal- series of episodes: why did Gri- from Labour in 1964, and warned Wilson had Transport House con- mond attempt realignment?; that he was ‘driven to be pessi- duct some initial research into the ity not only why did it fail?; and what was its mistic about the proposals.’40 A likely impact of using the Alter- long-term significance? All three Liberal Independence Commit- native Vote electoral system, he drove the questions can be answered by tee was established by four former discovered that it would have examining not only Grimond’s parliamentary candidates who weakened Labour in 1964, and process of personality, but also opinion wrote an open letter to Grimond dropped any possibility of nego- in the Liberal Party and in the warning that his approach risked tiations. The tone of Wilson’s realignment Labour and Conservative Parties. leaving the Liberals ‘submerged in boast afterwards that ‘I never con- but also Grimond’s personality not only Socialism.’41 Some leading figures sidered accepting his [Grimond’s] drove the process of realignment such as Lord Byers were especially proposal for one moment’46 may accounts for but also accounts for the abject suspicious of Wilson because of reflect partisan bravado, but its nature – though not the simple the prime minister’s abandon- substance is confirmed by Wil- the abject fact – of its failure. We have good ment of Liberalism after Oxford son’s refusal to work with the evidence that, although he par- University, where they had been Liberals in February 1974, when nature – ticipated in it because the survival contemporaries.42 he had no majority at all. In his of the party was at stake, Grimond Press coverage from across the speech to Labour’s 1965 confer- though not was unenthusiastic about the Lib- political spectrum was humiliat- ence, Wilson dismissed the record erals’ closeness to the Conserva- ing: The Sunday Mirror said that and significance of the Liberals the simple tives in the first half of the 1950s, Grimond’s gesture would be ‘pub- with characteristic brutal wit. and, once he became leader, Lib- licly scorned’, and its daily stable- Again Grimond had mishan- fact – of its eral MPs’ voting patterns turned mate that it was ‘a non-starter’; dled the press, his own MPs and against the government. The the Sunday Telegraph believed supporters, and his intended part- failure. shift of the Conservatives away ‘Ministers see no need for taking ners in the Labour Party, and it from the Liberals consolidated up Mr Grimond’s offer’ and The is difficult not to return to Wat- this change. However, it was Sun declared that ‘Mr Grimond kins’s harsh assessment of his role. Grimond’s unpredictable and hasn’t a cat in Hell’s chance of Douglas certainly took that view remote manner which made his dictating terms to the Govern- with six years’ hindsight and a bids for realignment particularly ment for Liberal support. Whose thorough inside knowledge of the ineffective: they came as a sur- side are they on? Even the ques- Party: prise even to his closest allies, and tion doesn’t matter. Neither side were expressed in such vague and at present cares much.’ Even the It is difficult to see what effect inconsistent terms as to provoke more restrained tone of The Econ- Grimond sought to produce, a mixture of bewilderment, fear omist dismissed the intervention as or how he imagined that this and anger rather than approval. ‘yet another buzz that is destined statement would assist. There Moreover, though Grimond was to die away.’43 Unsurprisingly, was much alarm amongst Lib- a leftist by instinct, his vision by the time the Liberal Assem- erals, and the sharpness of of the left – as he indicated at bly came around in September, their reaction seems both to length in the passage from which even though Grimond inter- have pained and surprised Gri- the title of this article is taken – vened unexpectedly early to make mond. If he sought to bring was inherently at odds with that a speech setting out his terms to Party advantage to the Liber- which formed the core beliefs of Labour again, incoming Party als by inclining to Labour in even the most receptive elements President Nancy Seear looked a balance-of-power situation, of the Labour Party in the 1960s: back on the episode to deliver a it is difficult to see why he Grimond was wholly opposed stinging rebuke to the idea of a thought he would succeed with to further nationalisation, and Lib–Lab arrangement: ten MPs when Lloyd George committed to co-ownership; as had failed with fifty-eight, a member of the Unservile State For forty years we have proph- and Asquith had failed with a Group in the 1950s, he had put his esied that the country would quarter of the House of Com- name to publications proposing come to recognise the need mons. If he sought some funda- the ending of housing subsidies for a non-socialist progressive mental realignment of British and tax relief for private school party. We have not spent these politics, then he palpably mis- fees;48 in the 1970s Grimond him- years isolated but undefiled in judged completely the temper self acknowledges that his views the wilderness to choose this of active workers in both the towards the left became more crit- moment of all moments to go, Liberal and Labour Parties. A ical after the realignment project, in the biblical phrase, ‘a whor- few brief conversations with and that ‘the Socialist movement ing after foreign women’.44 constituency officers of the in the 70s steered by no star.’49 Liberal Party, or others in fre- Even at the height of his own To make the humiliation more quent contact with ordinary leadership, Grimond gave spon- complete, the foreign women voters, would have sufficed to taneous signals of his distaste for were noticeably unbiddable. assure him that his plans, what- the most sacred of Labour icons. Silkin had warned Lubbock that ever they were, were simply Richard Wainwright, whose bat- Labour’s National Executive ‘not on’.47 tle against Labour in the Colne

Journal of Liberal History 67 Summer 2010 55 ‘an out-of-date word’

Valley by-election of 1963 was The signifi- 1960s who had not been attracted History; B. Donoughue and G. W. fully supported by Grimond, by the party previously – though Jones, Herbert Morrison: Portrait of a made a personal note of one such cance of the many of these were keen oppo- Politician (London: Weidenfeld and instance. Grimond addressed a nents of cooperation with Labour, Nicolson, 1973), p. 509. large meeting at Holmfirth and realignment which they had also rejected.53 9 Thurso (formerly Sir Archibald Sin- the audience waited eagerly for The general idea of working with clair) was reported by Philip Noel- questions from the floor: idea may lie elements and former members of Baker to have approached Gaitskell the Labour Party might not have about a pact in February 1952: After a couple of friendly ques- in its longer- borne fruit in the 1970s and 1980s cited in M. Jones, A Radical Life: tions there came a rasping voice: term effects. had its seeds not been sown in the the Biography of Megan Lloyd George ‘What will Mr Grimond do for 1960s. This may, indeed, have (London: Hutchinson, 1991), p. the working class?’ Jo uncoiled It ensured a been Grimond’s hope: to lay the 237. MacFadyean’s appeal was made himself and summoned up his ground for a long-term healing of publicly at the Corn Exchange in matchless gift of command- public profile the progressive rift of the Edward- Plymouth on 21 February 1953 (The ing emphasis; and then just one ian era, on the right terms. Yet all Times, 23 February 1953). sentence: ‘The working class for the Liber- of this is speculative and highly 10 This series was called ‘Where Lib- – I would abolish the work- contentious. Whatever Grimond’s erals Stand’, and ran in various ing class’. Several seconds for als, and re- realignment strategy sought, its issues of Liberal News in the first half his nine-word answer to sink fate was not dictated by Grimond; of 1957. in, and then huge applause, established its achievements were largely acci- 11 J. Grimond, The Liberal Future not from Liberals only. And no dental and belated; and its imme- (London: Faber and Faber, 1959), comeback from the well known an impres- diate failure was inevitable. pp. 21–22, 55. Labour questioner.50 12 R. Fulford, The Liberal Case (Har- sion of the Matt Cole lectures for the Hansard mondsworth: Penguin, 1959), pp. It is perhaps unsurprising that Society at the London School of Eco- 39–50, esp. p. 49. Grimond was associated by the Liberals as nomics. Later this year he is to publish 13 The Observer, 11 October 1959. young Vince Cable in the middle Richard Wainwright, the Liberals 14 ‘Is it a Lib–Lab Deal?’, The People, 1960s principally with economic a party of and Liberal Democrats: Unfin- 11 October 1959. liberalism.51 And it is therefore no ished Business with Manchester 15 M. Foot, Aneurin Bevan: a Biography, surprise that his attempts to reach change, and University Press. Vol. 2 (London: Davis-Poytner, out to Labour sometimes lacked possibly 1973), p. 631. conviction. 1 The Guardian, 10 October 1959; The 16 McManus, op. cit., pp. 146–47. However, whatever Gri- a party of Observer, 11 October 1959. This idea 17 B. Rodgers, Fourth Amongst Equals mond had done the realignment was reiterated in the News Chronicle, (London: Politico’s, 2000 ), p. 40. project would have failed. Each government. 14 October 1959. 18 Sunday Times, 1 June 1958. time, Liberals who had fought 2 This is Grimond’s description of the 19 ‘A Student of Politics’, Sunday to protect the party’s exist- term ‘left’ in J. Grimond, The Lib- Times, 8 June 1958. ence expressed opposition with eral Challenge (London: Hollis and 20 R. Bowen, interview, 8 August increasing vehemence, and Gri- Carter, 1963), p. 315. 2000. mond himself came to recognise 3 A. Watkins, ‘The Tragedy of Jo 21 McManus, op. cit., p. 146. that ‘the idea that the Liberal Grimond’, The Spectator, 20 January 22 Daily Telegraph, 17 October 1959. Party should be the mainstream 1967, p. 60. 23 R. Douglas, A History of the Liberal of realignment was regarded as a 4 M. McManus, Jo Grimond: Towards Party 1895–1970 (Sidgwick & Jack- Grimond eccentricity.’52 The fact the Sound of Gunfire (Edinburgh: son, 1971), p. 272. that Liberal opposition was not Birlinn, 2001), p. 374. 24 P. Barberis, Liberal Lion: Jo Grimond even fiercer is accounted for partly 5 J. Grimond, Memoirs (London: – a political life (I.B.Tauris, 2005), pp. by Labour contempt for realign- Heinemann, 1979), pp. 132 and 260. 100–101. ment. The only Socialists who 6 Jack Maclay MP to Lord Woolton, 25 M. Abrams, Must Labour Lose? responded warmly to Grimond’s 10 December 1951, Woolton MS 25 (Penguin, 1960). overtures were mavericks like Folios 197–98. Maclay suggested 26 The Guardian, 23 November 1961. Wyatt and Donnelly who did not continuing negotiations about 27 W. Wyatt, ‘My Plan for a Lib–Lab remain in Labour themselves. The cooperation between the National Pact’, New Statesman, 26 January vast majority of the Labour move- and Independent Liberals (and 1962, pp. 110–12. ment was too tribal and often too thereby the Conservatives) after 28 M. Shanks, The Stagnant Society complacent even to acknowledge Grimond’s return from New Zea- (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1961), the Liberals. land in early 1952. pp. 175–76. The postscript is dated The significance of the rea- 7 These figures are calculated from June 1961. lignment idea may lie in its detailed tables in the Conservative 29 John Landell Mills, Liberal News, 5 longer-term effects. It ensured a Campaign Guides of 1955, 1959 and October 1961. public profile for the Liberals, and 1964. 30 ‘Radicals Must Unite’, Liberal News, re-established an impression of 8 See M. Egan, ‘Basil Wigoder’, Dic- 3 February 1962. the Liberals as a party of change, tionary of Liberal Biography (London: 31 R. Churchill, London Evening Stand- and possibly a party of govern- Politicos, 1998); Marshall’s pro- ard, 2 April 1958. The proceedings ment. Grimond’s assertion of a posals of February 1948 are in the of the Steering Committee are leftist stance recruited many new Labour General Secretary’s files activists in the late 1950s and early GS/LIB/4ii, Museum of People’s concluded on page 72

56 Journal of Liberal History 67 Summer 2010 A Liberal Democrat History Group evening meeting Thomas Paine and the Radical Liberal Tradition In the two centuries since Thomas Paine’s death, his works and reputation have been both vilified and appropriated by individuals and movements from across the political spectrum. His name has become a touchstone of left-wing and liberal thought, celebrated for the courage of his political vision, even as the specific context of his writings has too often been disregarded. This meeting will discuss the continued resonance of Paine’s thought and assess his relevance for radical and liberal activists today.

Speakers: Edward Royle, Emeritus Professor, University of York and author of many works on 18th and 19th century history including Revolutionary Britannia? Reflections on the Threats of Revolution in Britain, 1789–1848 and Robert Owen and the Commencement of the Millennium: A Study of the Harmony Community; Dr Edward Vallance, University of Roehampton and author of A Radical History of Britain: Visionaries, Rebels and Revolutionaries – the Men and Women who fought for our Freedom and The Glorious Revolution: 1688 – Britain’s Fight for Liberty. Chair: Dr Richard Grayson, Head of Politics, Goldsmiths College, guest editor of this special issue of the Journal and co-editor of After the Crash: Reinventing the Left in Britain and Reinventing the State: Social Liberalism for the 21st Century.

6.30pm, Monday 12 July 2010 David Lloyd George Room, National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HE

‘An out-of-date word’: Grimond and the left (continued from page 56) described in J. Ramsden, The wrote to the Herald in response 41 The Guardian, 26 June 1965. State: Essays in Liberty and Wel- Winds of Change: Macmillan to an article, ‘Nation in Search 42 This was confirmed by Luise fare (London: George Allen & to Heath, 1957–75 (Longman, of a Party’ which called upon Nandy, Byers’s daughter, in an Unwin, 1957), pp. 129–30. 1996), pp. 36–37. Labour to transform itself interview, 18 January 2009. 49 Grimond, Memoirs, p. 260. 32 On a small swing, the Con- urgently but rejected any refer- 43 All quotation in this para- 50 Wainwright’s note of this servatives had won Brighouse ence to the Liberals. The letter graph not otherwise attributed exchange is in the Wainwright and Spenborough from Labour was not published. is cited in Liberal News, 2 July papers at the LSE. in a by-election on 17 March 36 The Guardian, 24 June 1965. 1965. 51 V. Cable, Free Radical: a Memoir 1960. 37 Lord Avebury (formerly Eric 44 The Guardian, 23 September (Atlantic Books, 2009), p. 42. 33 The Times, 17 March 1962. Lubbock), interview, 12 August 1965. 52 Cited in McManus, op. cit., p. 34 ‘Pact “Not on your Life”’, 1999. 45 Lord Avebury (Eric Lubbock), 146. Liberal News, 25 January 1962. 38 Edward Short, Whip to Wilson interview, 12 August 1999. 53 A case in point is John Pardoe, Buchanan presumably meant (Macdonald, 1989), pp. 117 and 46 H. Wilson, The Labour Govern- whose journey to Grimond’s ‘second of the opposition par- 172. ment 1964–70: a Personal Record Liberal Party from Labour’s ties’, for at the by-election on 39 ‘Stormy Young Liberals say (London: Weidenfeld & Nicol- left is documented in A. Slade, 8 November 1961 he had nar- –“No Pacts”’, Liberal News, 23 son and Michael Joseph, 1970), ‘What might have been’, Journal rowly won second place for the April 1965. p. 139. of Liberal Democrat History, Issue Liberals, pushing Labour into 40 All quotation in this para- 47 R. Douglas, History of the Lib- 36 (November 2002). third position. graph not otherwise attributed eral Party 1895–1970 (Sidgwick 35 ‘Herald’s Blind Eye’, Liberal is cited in Liberal News, 2 July & Jackson, 1971), p. 281. News, 10 February 1962. Holt 1965. 48 G. Watson (ed.), The Unservile