Alan Lee Williams OBE (born 29 November 1930) is a former president of the

Atlantic Treaty Association The Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) is an umbrella organization which draws together political leaders, academics, military officials, and diplomats to support the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The ATA is an independent organization ...

, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Labour Party politician, writer and visiting professor of politics at

Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

Early life

Williams was educated at

The John Roan School The John Roan School is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Greenwich, south-east London, England. History Grammar schools The current school was originally two grammar schools. The boys' school was founded in 1677 and t ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

and worked as a journeyman freeman and craft-owning freeman of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen, between 1945 and 1952, before attending

Ruskin College, Oxford Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

. He was elected a borough

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

in Greenwich in 1952, at the age of twenty-one, serving until 1955. He worked as the national youth officer of the Labour Party between 1955 and 1962 and then as the National Youth Officer of the

United Nations Association A United Nations Association (UNA) is a non-governmental organization that exist in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of member states and the United Nations to raise public awareness of the UN and its work, to promot ...

between 1962 and 1966. Williams was chairman of the British National Committee of the

World Assembly of Youth The World Assembly of Youth (WAY); French: ''Assemblée Mondiale de la Jeunesse'', Spanish: ''Asamblea Mundial de la Juventud'' is the international coordinating body of national youth councils and national youth organisations. The full members ...

for four years.

Political career

He first contested the

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

seat of

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

in 1964. He was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for the marginal seat of

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed ...

three times, first winning the seat in 1966. He lost to the Conservative

John Loveridge Sir John Warren Loveridge (9 September 1925 – 13 November 2007) was a British Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for 13 years, from 1970 to 1983. He was also the owner of a London secretarial college, a farmer in the West Country, ...

in 1970, but regained the seat in

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...

, and was re-elected in October 1974. He was appointed

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

Denis Healey Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey, (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he ...

in his role as

Defence Secretary A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

from 1967 to 1970. In 1974, Williams was again appointed as a PPS to the

Roy Mason Roy Mason, Baron Mason of Barnsley, (18 April 1924 – 19 April 2015), was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and Cabinet minister who was Secretary of State for Defence and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the 1970s ...

, Defence Secretary, remaining in the role when Mason was appointed

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

. In 1979, Williams again lost his seat to the Conservatives, this time to

Robin Squire Robin Clifford Squire (born 12 July 1944) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. He was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Hornchurch (UK Parliament constituency), Hornchurch from 1979 until 1 ...

, and he has not returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

since.

After Parliament

In 1979, he was appointed Director-General of the

English Speaking Union The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational membership organistation. Founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918, it aims to bring together and empower people of different languages and cultures, by building skill ...

. In the 1980s, he joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

and became Chairman of the SDP's Defence Committee for four years, later rejoining the Labour Party. He was a long serving member of the

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

and served on the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

's Advisory Board on Arms Control, and on the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

's Advisory Board on Public Records. Williams first served with the

European Movement The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History The origins of the ...

as Deputy Director from 1970 until 1972, and as Director of the British Atlantic Committee between 1972 and 1974. From 1972 to 1973, he was Director of the Labour Committee for Europe. During this time he was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for services to Europe. In 1978, he was Chairman of Peace through NATO, during the question over the Pershing Cruise Missile Deployment. In 1986 he became Director of the Atlantic Council of the United Kingdom, a member of the

. He served in this capacity until 2007. He was elected President of the Atlantic Treaty Association in 2000, serving until 2003, and from 2007 held the title of Honorary Vice-President for Life at the Atlantic Council. In 1986, he was made Warden and Chief Executive of

Toynbee Hall Toynbee Hall is a charitable institution that works to address the causes and impacts of poverty in the East End of London and elsewhere. Established in 1884, it is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affiliat ...

, the university settlement. He is Chairman of a number of major charities, including the Transport on Water Association and the Sir William Beveridge Foundation. Williams has written and contributed to several books and articles, including ''A Radical Future'' (1966), ''Europe and the Open Sea'' (1966), ''Crisis in European Defence'' (1979), and other works on defence with his brother, Professor Geoffrey Lee Williams.

References

Bibliography

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979'' *

External links

*
Interviewed on ANN TV 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Alan Lee 1930 births Living people People educated at the John Roan School Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Fabian Society Councillors in Greater London UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 Officers of the Order of the British Empire Academics of Queen Mary University of London Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians