National League of Young Liberals
Encyclopedia
The National League of Young Liberals (NLYL), often just called the Young Liberals, was the youth wing of the British
Liberal Party
. It was founded in 1903 and by 1906 it had over three hundred branches. In 1934 it called for David Lloyd George
to lead a Liberal New Deal
revival based on the Yellow Book. The successor organisation is the Liberal Youth, the youth wing of the Liberal Democrats
. The NLYL played a significant role in the development of Liberal thought and action, particularly from the 1960s until the end of the 1980s.
, when they sponsored an anti-NATO resolution. Over the next decade the YLs were active on a number of foreign policy areas. In particular they were at the forefront of the opposition to Apartheid and the Vietnam war
. The YLs took a leading role in the Stop the Seventy Tour of South Africa
n Cricket
and Rugby
teams. Led in particular by an exiled South African Peter Hain
(later to become a Labour Party
Cabinet Minister), Louis Eaks (later to edit the Tribune), Hilary Wainwright
(later to be editor of Red Pepper
magazine), they took direct action when other Liberals were not doing so.
The party leadership were very unhappy about the antics of their youth wing, and party leader Jeremy Thorpe
set up a three-man commission which produced the Terrell Report. The report accused some of the Young Liberals of being communists. Many Young Liberals described themselves as "libertarian socialists". Peter Hain explained:
"Underlying libertarian socialism is a different and distinct notion of politics which rests on the belief that it is only through interaction with others in political activity and civic action that individuals will fully realise their humanity. Democracy should therefore extend not simply to government but throughout society: in industry, in the neighbourhood or in any arrangement by which people organise their lives."
Thorpe went on to try to stop the election of Peter Hain as chair of the Young Liberals.
At the same time as being active on foreign policy, a group of Young Liberals led by Bernard Greaves, Tony Greaves (later to become a Liberal Democrat peer), Gordon Lishman
and David Penhaligon
(later to become a Liberal MP) developed the combination of a radical YL approach and involvement in their communities. The Young Liberals put forward an amendment to the party's strategy at the Liberal Party Conference in Eastbourne
in 1970 which was passed with little enthusiasm from the Party leadership. The amendment defined the new strategy as:
"a dual approach to politics, acting both inside and outside the institutions of the political establishment to help organise people in their communities to take and use power to build a Liberal power-base in the major cities of this country to identify with the under-privileged in this country and the world to capture people's imagination as a credible political movement, with local roots and local successes."
This was to revolutionise the party – it was known as "community politics
". Young Liberals started to show by example how community politics could win elections first with by-election wins in 1972 (notably with YL vice-chair Graham Tope's win at Sutton and Cheam) and then through the work of Trevor Jones
and his colleagues in Liverpool
, where they won control of the council. In 1977, there were some 750 Liberal councillors. By 1985, that figure had risen to more than 2,500, and it peaked in the early 1990s at more than 5,000. But it was only with the election of Paddy Ashdown
in 1988 that community politics was fully embraced by the party leadership.
It was Young Liberal chairman Ruth Addison who led the revolt against David Steel
's call in 1974 for a government of national unity.
As a result the NLYL grew stronger attracting groups to affiliate from surprising areas like rural Wiltshire. Patrick Coleman went on to be a county councillor. But it also eventually led to the rejection of the merger of the Liberal Party by 'old fashioned Liberals' as they are now described and also members of the SDP.
At first that merger left many thousands of Liberals who had voted with their feet and walked away into political limbo. But as the 'Green Guard' led by Michael Meadowcroft realised the Social & LIberal Democrats was not the proper home for them.
The SLD had left the 'Liberal' Party name for them to inherit and so they did. But they had no parliamentary representation. see www.liberal.org.uk
. Initially led by Felix Dodds
, the Young Liberals again challenged the party on a number of fronts. On foreign policy they not only continued the tradition of the "Red Guard" in opposing the US escalation of nuclear tension, the introduction of Star Wars
and the UK's independent nuclear deterrent and continued to campaign against apartheid, but also started to green the party through both local activities and national campaigns on acid rain
, nuclear power and green economics. Michael Harskin one of the Green Guard crafted the NLYL manifesto and the attack on the Liberal/SDP Alliance manifesto in 1983 election. He said:
"it offers no radical vision for young people and little evidence of Liberal policies on Northern Ireland
, the environment and other issues YLs had fought to be adopted."
The party leadership were not happy, and when a delegation of Young Liberals met Gerry Adams
to ask him to take his seat in parliament, party leader David Steel attacked them for bringing the party into disrepute. The Young Liberals went on to persuade the party to support the withdrawal of all British troops from Northern Ireland as a long-term aim.
The Young Liberals played a significant role in persuading Des Wilson
, the then outgoing President of Friends of the Earth International, to become active again in the Liberal Party. Wilson went on to become party president in 1986. In an echo of the "Red Guard" era, the party leadership under David Steel campaigned to stop the election of Felix Dodds to the position of National Chair of the Young Liberals in 1984. Although not elected that year, he was elected the following year and played a significant role in helping to organise the rebellion for the 1986 Eastbourne Defence Debate
The most significant impact of this period was perhaps the rebellion the Young Liberals helped to facilitate against the SDP-Liberal Alliance
leadership of David Steel and David Owen
over the issue of an independent nuclear deterrent. The rebel coalition, which included three MPs - Simon Hughes
, Archie Kirkwood and Michael Meadowcroft
- produced the publication Across the Divide: Liberal Values on Defence and Disarmament, which outlined the Liberal Party's historic opposition to the UK having an independent nuclear deterrent. This resulted in a major defeat to the leadership in 1986, by twenty-three votes (652 votes to 625) at the Liberal Party Conference defence debate in Eastbourne. Many believe that the speech by Simon Hughes won the day for the rebels:
"Fellow Liberals, we could change the direction of British defence and disarmament policy. But we are a party. Many of us joined this party because of its aim and its goal: a non-nuclear Europe in a non-nuclear world. We have never voted to replace independent nuclear deterrent. Not only must we not do so now, but our policy must be to do so never - and to replace an independent British nuclear deterrent by a European nuclear deterrent - even if that concept was workable - is not an acceptable alternative.... We are on the verge of responsibility. There's no more important subject - the battle is not between us, the battle is for our future. I urge you to accept both amendments and the resolution and be proud of all that we stand for. [applause; standing ovation] "
In his final speech as chair of the Young Liberals, Dodds called for "a rainbow alliance on the left in British politics". In 1988, he and other Young Liberals formed an informal alliance with leading Green Party
members Tim Cooper, Jean Lambert
and Liz Crosbie called Green Voice. This alliance investigated how they might be better relations and campaigns joining together members of both parties. The two Green Voice Conferences in 1988 played a key role in enabling leading MPs Simon Hughes and Michael Meadowcroft to outline to the new Social and Liberal Democratic Party
the kind of green agenda that the new party should adopt. Simon Hughes, at the press conference for the first Green Voice Conference, announced that he would not join the new Social and Liberal Democrats Party unless it was to accept a strong green agenda.
Some of those associated with the Green Guard, including Martin Horwood
and Adrian Sanders
, have gone on to become MPs and others, including Ed Lucas and Stephen Grey
, have become journalists on international issues. Others chose to take green politics to a local level and show by example, Mike Cooper becoming Leader of Sutton Borough Council
and Louise Bloom
a member of the London Assembly
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
. It was founded in 1903 and by 1906 it had over three hundred branches. In 1934 it called for David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
to lead a Liberal New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
revival based on the Yellow Book. The successor organisation is the Liberal Youth, the youth wing of the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
. The NLYL played a significant role in the development of Liberal thought and action, particularly from the 1960s until the end of the 1980s.
The "Red Guard"
One of the significant periods of the Young Liberals was the 1960s and early 1970s. The press coined the phrase the "Red Guard" to illustrate the radical nature of the youth wing. The public became aware of the "Red Guards" at the 1966 Liberal Party Conference in BrightonBrighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, when they sponsored an anti-NATO resolution. Over the next decade the YLs were active on a number of foreign policy areas. In particular they were at the forefront of the opposition to Apartheid and the Vietnam war
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. The YLs took a leading role in the Stop the Seventy Tour of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and Rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
teams. Led in particular by an exiled South African Peter Hain
Peter Hain
Peter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...
(later to become a Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Cabinet Minister), Louis Eaks (later to edit the Tribune), Hilary Wainwright
Hilary Wainwright
Hilary Wainwright is a British socialist and feminist, best known for being editor of Red Pepper magazine.-Personal life:Hilary Wainwright's father was the Liberal MP Richard Wainwright, and her brother, Martin, is the Northern Editor of The Guardian, to which she occasionally contributes.She...
(later to be editor of Red Pepper
Red Pepper (magazine)
Red Pepper is an independent ‘red, green and radical’ magazine based in the UK. For most of its history it appeared monthly, but relaunched as a bi-monthly during 2007.- Origins :...
magazine), they took direct action when other Liberals were not doing so.
The party leadership were very unhappy about the antics of their youth wing, and party leader Jeremy Thorpe
Jeremy Thorpe
John Jeremy Thorpe is a British former politician who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976 and was the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979. His political career was damaged when an acquaintance, Norman Scott, claimed to have had a love affair with Thorpe at a time...
set up a three-man commission which produced the Terrell Report. The report accused some of the Young Liberals of being communists. Many Young Liberals described themselves as "libertarian socialists". Peter Hain explained:
"Underlying libertarian socialism is a different and distinct notion of politics which rests on the belief that it is only through interaction with others in political activity and civic action that individuals will fully realise their humanity. Democracy should therefore extend not simply to government but throughout society: in industry, in the neighbourhood or in any arrangement by which people organise their lives."
Thorpe went on to try to stop the election of Peter Hain as chair of the Young Liberals.
At the same time as being active on foreign policy, a group of Young Liberals led by Bernard Greaves, Tony Greaves (later to become a Liberal Democrat peer), Gordon Lishman
Gordon Lishman
Arthur Gordon Lishman CBE, known as Gordon Lishman is a British social activist, writer and former Director General of Age Concern England.-Career:...
and David Penhaligon
David Penhaligon
David Charles Penhaligon was a British politician from Cornwall who was a Liberal Member of Parliament from October 1974 until his death...
(later to become a Liberal MP) developed the combination of a radical YL approach and involvement in their communities. The Young Liberals put forward an amendment to the party's strategy at the Liberal Party Conference in Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
in 1970 which was passed with little enthusiasm from the Party leadership. The amendment defined the new strategy as:
"a dual approach to politics, acting both inside and outside the institutions of the political establishment to help organise people in their communities to take and use power to build a Liberal power-base in the major cities of this country to identify with the under-privileged in this country and the world to capture people's imagination as a credible political movement, with local roots and local successes."
This was to revolutionise the party – it was known as "community politics
Community politics
Community politics is a movement in British politics to re-engage people with political action on a local level.Most developed amongst the Liberal Democrats but adopted to some extent by the British Greens, other parties, and Independents....
". Young Liberals started to show by example how community politics could win elections first with by-election wins in 1972 (notably with YL vice-chair Graham Tope's win at Sutton and Cheam) and then through the work of Trevor Jones
Trevor Jones
Trevor Jones may refer to:*Trevor Jones , Australian Deputy Chief of Navy *Trevor Jones , South African orchestral film score composer*Trevor Jones , English cricketer for Somerset...
and his colleagues in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, where they won control of the council. In 1977, there were some 750 Liberal councillors. By 1985, that figure had risen to more than 2,500, and it peaked in the early 1990s at more than 5,000. But it was only with the election of Paddy Ashdown
Paddy Ashdown
Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, GCMG, KBE, PC , usually known as Paddy Ashdown, is a British politician and diplomat....
in 1988 that community politics was fully embraced by the party leadership.
It was Young Liberal chairman Ruth Addison who led the revolt against David Steel
David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 until its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats...
's call in 1974 for a government of national unity.
As a result the NLYL grew stronger attracting groups to affiliate from surprising areas like rural Wiltshire. Patrick Coleman went on to be a county councillor. But it also eventually led to the rejection of the merger of the Liberal Party by 'old fashioned Liberals' as they are now described and also members of the SDP.
At first that merger left many thousands of Liberals who had voted with their feet and walked away into political limbo. But as the 'Green Guard' led by Michael Meadowcroft realised the Social & LIberal Democrats was not the proper home for them.
The SLD had left the 'Liberal' Party name for them to inherit and so they did. But they had no parliamentary representation. see www.liberal.org.uk
The "Green Guard"
In 1979, the Liberal Party adopted a "no growth" economic policy and became a magnet for young people interested in green politicsGreen politics
Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...
. Initially led by Felix Dodds
Felix Dodds
Felix Dodds is an author, futurist and activist. He has been instrumental in developing new modes of stakeholder engagement with the United Nations, particularly within the field of sustainable development. Mr. Dodds is the Executive Director of Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future...
, the Young Liberals again challenged the party on a number of fronts. On foreign policy they not only continued the tradition of the "Red Guard" in opposing the US escalation of nuclear tension, the introduction of Star Wars
Strategic Defense Initiative
The Strategic Defense Initiative was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic...
and the UK's independent nuclear deterrent and continued to campaign against apartheid, but also started to green the party through both local activities and national campaigns on acid rain
Acid rain
Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...
, nuclear power and green economics. Michael Harskin one of the Green Guard crafted the NLYL manifesto and the attack on the Liberal/SDP Alliance manifesto in 1983 election. He said:
"it offers no radical vision for young people and little evidence of Liberal policies on Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, the environment and other issues YLs had fought to be adopted."
The party leadership were not happy, and when a delegation of Young Liberals met Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
to ask him to take his seat in parliament, party leader David Steel attacked them for bringing the party into disrepute. The Young Liberals went on to persuade the party to support the withdrawal of all British troops from Northern Ireland as a long-term aim.
The Young Liberals played a significant role in persuading Des Wilson
Des Wilson
Des Wilson is a New Zealand born British campaigner, political activist, businessman, sports administrator, author and Poker player. He was instrumental in the 1960s as a founder of the pivotal British homelessness charity Shelter and was for a while an activist in, and President of, the British...
, the then outgoing President of Friends of the Earth International, to become active again in the Liberal Party. Wilson went on to become party president in 1986. In an echo of the "Red Guard" era, the party leadership under David Steel campaigned to stop the election of Felix Dodds to the position of National Chair of the Young Liberals in 1984. Although not elected that year, he was elected the following year and played a significant role in helping to organise the rebellion for the 1986 Eastbourne Defence Debate
The most significant impact of this period was perhaps the rebellion the Young Liberals helped to facilitate against the SDP-Liberal Alliance
SDP-Liberal Alliance
The SDP–Liberal Alliance was an electoral pact formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom which was in existence from 1981 to 1988, when the bulk of the two parties merged to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, later referred to as simply the Liberal...
leadership of David Steel and David Owen
David Owen
David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen CH PC FRCP is a British politician.Owen served as British Foreign Secretary from 1977 to 1979, the youngest person in over forty years to hold the post; he co-authored the failed Vance-Owen and Owen-Stoltenberg peace plans offered during the Bosnian War...
over the issue of an independent nuclear deterrent. The rebel coalition, which included three MPs - Simon Hughes
Simon Hughes
Simon Henry Ward Hughes is a British politician and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. He is Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark. Until 2008 he was President of the Liberal Democrats...
, Archie Kirkwood and Michael Meadowcroft
Michael Meadowcroft
Michael James Meadowcroft is a politician and political affairs consultant in the United Kingdom.He was a Liberal Member of Parliament for Leeds West from 1983 to 1987, and founder of the "continuing" Liberal Party in 1989 following the party's merger with the Social Democratic Party to form the...
- produced the publication Across the Divide: Liberal Values on Defence and Disarmament, which outlined the Liberal Party's historic opposition to the UK having an independent nuclear deterrent. This resulted in a major defeat to the leadership in 1986, by twenty-three votes (652 votes to 625) at the Liberal Party Conference defence debate in Eastbourne. Many believe that the speech by Simon Hughes won the day for the rebels:
"Fellow Liberals, we could change the direction of British defence and disarmament policy. But we are a party. Many of us joined this party because of its aim and its goal: a non-nuclear Europe in a non-nuclear world. We have never voted to replace independent nuclear deterrent. Not only must we not do so now, but our policy must be to do so never - and to replace an independent British nuclear deterrent by a European nuclear deterrent - even if that concept was workable - is not an acceptable alternative.... We are on the verge of responsibility. There's no more important subject - the battle is not between us, the battle is for our future. I urge you to accept both amendments and the resolution and be proud of all that we stand for. [applause; standing ovation] "
In his final speech as chair of the Young Liberals, Dodds called for "a rainbow alliance on the left in British politics". In 1988, he and other Young Liberals formed an informal alliance with leading Green Party
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...
members Tim Cooper, Jean Lambert
Jean Lambert
Jean Denise Lambert is an English politician, and Member of the European Parliament for the London Region. A member of the Green Party of England and Wales, she has been an MEP since 1999...
and Liz Crosbie called Green Voice. This alliance investigated how they might be better relations and campaigns joining together members of both parties. The two Green Voice Conferences in 1988 played a key role in enabling leading MPs Simon Hughes and Michael Meadowcroft to outline to the new Social and Liberal Democratic Party
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
the kind of green agenda that the new party should adopt. Simon Hughes, at the press conference for the first Green Voice Conference, announced that he would not join the new Social and Liberal Democrats Party unless it was to accept a strong green agenda.
Some of those associated with the Green Guard, including Martin Horwood
Martin Horwood
Martin Charles Horwood is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He is the Member of Parliament for the Cheltenham constituency. He is the founder and current Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tribal Peoples.-Early life:He was born in St. Paul’s, Cheltenham, in 1962. His parents...
and Adrian Sanders
Adrian Sanders
Adrian Mark Sanders is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom. He is the Member of Parliament for Torbay in Devon.-Personal life:...
, have gone on to become MPs and others, including Ed Lucas and Stephen Grey
Stephen Grey
Stephen Grey is an award-winning British investigative journalist and author best known for revealing details of the CIA's program of 'extraordinary rendition.' He has also reported extensively from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.-Early career:Grey was educated at the British School of...
, have become journalists on international issues. Others chose to take green politics to a local level and show by example, Mike Cooper becoming Leader of Sutton Borough Council
London Borough of Sutton
The London Borough of Sutton is a London borough in South London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It is one of the southernmost boroughs of London...
and Louise Bloom
Louise Bloom
Louise Anne Bloom is a Liberal Democrat politician. She was a founder member of the London Assembly, being elected as a list member representing the whole of Greater London...
a member of the London Assembly
London Assembly
The London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall on the south...
.
List of Chairs
- Jane Brophy (1989–1990)
- Rachel Pitchford (1987–1989)
- Felix DoddsFelix DoddsFelix Dodds is an author, futurist and activist. He has been instrumental in developing new modes of stakeholder engagement with the United Nations, particularly within the field of sustainable development. Mr. Dodds is the Executive Director of Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future...
(1985–1987) - Janice Turner (1983–85)
- Susan Younger Ross (1981–1983)
- John Leston (1980–1981)
- Alan Sherwell (1978–1980)
- Pat Coleman (1977–1978)
- Steve Atack (1975–1977)
- Ruth Addison (1973–1975)
- Peter HainPeter HainPeter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...
MP (1971–73) - Tony Greaves (1970–1971)
- Louis Eaks (1969–1970)
- George Kiloh (1966–1968)
- Timothy Joyce (1959–1960)
- John Baker (1952–1953)
Prominent former Young Liberals
- Michael FootMichael FootMichael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
, Leader of the Labour Party, 1980–1983 - Sir Lawrence FreedmanLawrence FreedmanSir Lawrence David Freedman, KCMG, CBE, PC, FBA, FKC is Professor of War Studies at King's College London, and was a foreign policy adviser to Tony Blair...
, Professor of War Studies at King's College LondonKing's College LondonKing's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and... - Stephen GreyStephen GreyStephen Grey is an award-winning British investigative journalist and author best known for revealing details of the CIA's program of 'extraordinary rendition.' He has also reported extensively from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.-Early career:Grey was educated at the British School of...
, journalist, author of Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program - Peter HainPeter HainPeter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...
, Labour Cabinet Minister, 2002–2008 - Megan Lloyd GeorgeMegan Lloyd GeorgeLady Megan Arfon Lloyd George CH was a British politician, the first female Member of Parliament for a Welsh constituency, and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. She later became a Labour MP....
, the first female Member of Parliament for a Welsh constituency and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. She later became a Labour MP. - Harold WilsonHarold WilsonJames Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
, Leader of the Labour Party, 1963–1976 - Elliott DoddsElliott DoddsGeorge Elliott Dodds was a British journalist, newspaper editor, Liberal politician and thinker.-Education and career:...
, Chairman of the Unservile State Group - Felix DoddsFelix DoddsFelix Dodds is an author, futurist and activist. He has been instrumental in developing new modes of stakeholder engagement with the United Nations, particularly within the field of sustainable development. Mr. Dodds is the Executive Director of Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future...
, Executive Director Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable FutureStakeholder Forum for a Sustainable FutureStakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future is an international multi-stakeholder organization which exists at the interface of civil society and the UN...
and writer