Gwilym Lloyd George

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Gwilym Lloyd George, 1st Viscount Tenby, Template:Post-nominals, later hyphenated Lloyd-George (4 December 1894 – 14 February 1967), was a Welsh politician and cabinet minister. The younger son of David Lloyd George, he served as Home Secretary from 1954 to 1957.[1]

Background, education and military service

Born in Criccieth in North Wales, Lloyd George was the second son of Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George and his first wife, Margaret, daughter of Richard Owen. His sister Megan was also active in politics, but the two moved in opposite political directions: Gwilym to the right, towards the Conservatives, and Megan to the left, eventually joining the Labour Party.[1]

He was educated at Eastbourne College and Jesus College, Cambridge. Shortly after the outbreak of World War I he and his elder brother Richard were commissioned as Temporary Second lieutenants into the 6th (Caernarvonshire and Anglesey) Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers of the Territorial Force,[2] soon transferring to the 15th (Service) Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers (1st London Welsh) of 'Kitchener's Army'.[3] In 1915 he became aide-de-camp to Major-General Ivor Philipps, commander of the 38th (Welsh) Division.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". He transferred to the Anti-Aircraft branch of the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1916[4] and rose to the rank of major,[5] being known for most of his political career as Major Lloyd George. He was also mentioned in despatches.

Early political career 1922–45

Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Leaving the army in 1918, Lloyd George found employment working with his father in the post war coalition government. This also included being a trustee for David Lloyd George's National Liberal Political Fund.

Lloyd George was Member of Parliament (MP) for Pembrokeshire from 1922 to 1924, and again from 1929 to 1950. He was initially elected as a National Liberal,[6] but then joined the re-united Liberal Party in 1923. In 1931, Lloyd George initially took ministerial office as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade in the National Government of Ramsay Macdonald, but resigned when his father David Lloyd George withdrew his support from the government. Gwilym Lloyd George was subsequently a member of the Independent Liberal group from 1931 to 1935, who were opposed to the continuation of the National Government. This group then subsequently returned to the main Liberal Party following the 1935 general election.

In 1939, Lloyd George joined Neville Chamberlain's government for the same post he resigned from in 1931. From then on Lloyd George operated in effect as an independent Liberal. In 1941, he was appointed to the office of Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food and then Minister of Fuel and Power in 1942. Lloyd George stayed in the post until the 1945 general election[7] It was after the death of his father in 1945 that Gwilym began hyphenating his surname as Lloyd-George.

Later political career, 1945 onward

Following the 1945 general election in which he stood as a 'Liberal and Conservative', and was returned by a majority of 168, Lloyd George was approached by the Liberal Party and its rival the Liberal National Party[8] to chair their respective political organisations. Lloyd George turned them both down. Winston Churchill offered him a position in the Conservative Party's Shadow cabinet but was allowed to remain as a 'Liberal'. In 1946 Lloyd-George formally lost the Liberal Party whip.Template:Sfn

From this point onwards he did not associate with his erstwhile Liberal colleagues (who included his sister Lady Megan) and he was openly supported by Conservatives in his constituency. In early January 1950 he was publicly disowned by the Liberal Party for supporting Conservative candidates in constituencies contested by a Liberal candidate.Template:Sfn

Lloyd-George lost his seat (standing as a National Liberal and Conservative) in the 1950 general election. The Liberal Party did not field a candidate against him but this time Lloyd George lost to a Labour Party candidate Desmond Donnelly by 129 votes.Template:Sfn His career in Welsh politics at an end, a year later Lloyd-George returned to parliament as a National Liberal for Newcastle upon Tyne North in the 1951 general election. His candidature was backed by Churchill although disgruntled Conservatives in the local party supported an independent against Lloyd George.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Returning to office, Prime Minister Winston Churchill appointed him Minister of Food 1951–1954, and Home Secretary and Minister for Welsh Affairs from 1954 until his retirement in 1957. Lloyd-George was raised to the peerage as Viscount Tenby, of Bulford in the County of Pembroke, on 12 February 1957[9] and took his seat in the House of Lords on 27 February.[10]

In 1955, during his time as Home Secretary, he had refused to commute the death sentence imposed on Ruth Ellis; she was the last woman to be executed in the UK.[11]

Family

Lloyd George married Edna Gwenfron, daughter of David Jones, in 1921. They had two children: David Lloyd George, 2nd Viscount Tenby (1922–1983), and William Lloyd George, 3rd Viscount Tenby (1927–2023). He died aged 72, and was succeeded by his eldest son, David.

Lady Tenby died in 1971.

Arms

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References

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Sources

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Further reading

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External links

Template:S-endTemplate:HomeSecretaryTemplate:Secretary of State for Energy and Climate ChangeTemplate:Third Churchill MinistryTemplate:Authority control
Template:Error
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Member of Parliament for Pembrokeshire
1922–1924 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Member of Parliament for Pembrokeshire
1929–1950 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne North
1951–1957 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food
1941–1942 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
New title
Split off from Board of Trade
 Minister of Fuel and Power
1942–1945 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Minister of Food
1951–1954 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded byas Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Home Secretary
1954–1957 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Viscount Tenby
1957–1967 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
  1. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ London Gazette, 18 September 1914.
  3. ↑ London Gazette, 16 December 1914.
  4. ↑ Template:London Gazette
  5. ↑ Template:London Gazette
  6. ↑ Not the same party as the one initially created in 1931
  7. ↑ He was the only Liberal to do this. The rest of the Liberal Party ministers resigned in May 1945.
  8. ↑ Name changed to National Liberal Party in 1948
  9. ↑ Template:London Gazette
  10. ↑ Template:Hansard
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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