Alan John Williams (14 October 1930 – 21 December 2014) was a British
Labour Party politician who served 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 o ...
(MP) for
Swansea West for over 45 years, from
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...
to
2010. He was the longest serving MP for a Welsh constituency since
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...
and built a reputation for his detailed scrutiny of the ways in which public money was spent.
Early life
Williams was born in
Caerphilly, the son of Emlyn, a former miner who became a local government officer, and Violet (née Ross). He was educated at
Cardiff High School for Boys (a state
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
) then
Cardiff College of Technology and Commerce when he gained a
BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
in economics in 1954 (awarded by the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
). At
University College, Oxford
University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...
, he studied
PPE. He became an economics lecturer at the
Welsh College of Advanced Technology then a broadcaster and journalist.
Member of Parliament for Swansea West
He unsuccessfully contested
Poole in
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
, coming second to the
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 in ...
incumbent
Richard Pilkington. Shortly afterwards he was selected as the candidate for
Swansea West which had been won by the Conservatives by a narrow majority of 403 votes.
The constituency, containing the city centre, the university and the relatively prosperous western suburbs, had historically been a marginal one for Labour, in contrast to the more working-class
Swansea East.
Percy Morris
Percy Morris (6 October 1893 – 7 March 1967) was a British railway clerk, trade unionist and politician who became Mayor of Swansea and represented the town in Parliament. He specialised in railway issues in Parliament, and after being d ...
, elected in
the Labour landslide of 1945 had seen his majority cut to just over a thousand votes in
1955 before he was ousted by the Conservative
Hugh Rees four years later. Williams recaptured the seat in 1964, and held it for nearly 46 years. However, it was never entirely safe, and Rees made two unsuccessful attempts to recapture the seat in 1966 and in 1970. Wiliams had a very tight contest at the 1979 election, in the wake of the "winter of discontent" and divisions in the Welsh Labour Party over devolution. He held on by only 401 votes – only two less than the Tory majority he had overturned in 1964.
His majorities thereafter were more secure but the fact that the
Liberal Democrats came close to winning the seat after his retirement in 2010 suggests that he had a substantial personal vote.
Parliamentary career
Williams served under
Harold Wilson as
Under-Secretary of State for Economic Affairs from 1967 until 1969 and then as a Parliamentary Secretary at the
Ministry of Technology
The Ministry of Technology was a department of the government of the United Kingdom, sometimes abbreviated as "MinTech". The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of Harold Wilson in October 1964 as part of Wilson's am ...
until 1970 when Labour lost power. When Labour were returned to power at the
February 1974 general election, Williams was made
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...
at the
Department of Prices and Consumer Protection, serving until Wilson left office in 1976. The new Prime Minister,
James Callaghan, then appointed him as Minister of State at the
Department of Industry in which post he served until Labour lost power to the Conservatives under
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
in the
1979 general election.
Williams was made a
Privy Counsellor
The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...
in 1977. He was a backbencher from 1989 to 2010, and chairman of the
Liaison Committee from 2001 to 2010. He was a
Eurosceptic and was opposed to the
devolution settlement that established the
National Assembly for Wales
The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Go ...
.
In 2003, he abstained on the
parliamentary approval for the invasion of Iraq.
Father of the House
Following the retirement of
Tam Dalyell
Sir Thomas Dalyell, 11th Baronet, , ( ; 9 August 1932 – 26 January 2017), known as Tam Dalyell, was a Scottish Labour Party politician who was a member of the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005. He represented West Lothian from 1962 to 198 ...
at the
2005 general election, Williams became the MP with the longest continuous service in the House, earning him the title of
Father of the House.
He was the last MP to question Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
at Prime Minister's Questions on 27 June 2007. He congratulated Blair for giving the Labour Party 10 years of government, called him one of the outstanding Prime Ministers of his time, and thanked him for making the Labour Party once again the "natural party of government".
Williams was the last parliamentary survivor of those who were elected in Wilson's 1964 election win. As Father of the House, Williams presided over the
Commons Speaker election on 22 June 2009. He stood down from the Commons at the
2010 general election.
Personal life
He married (Mary) Patricia Rees in June 1957 in
Bedwellty. They had two sons and a daughter,
Sian Sian or Siyan may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People
*Siân, a Welsh girl's name; list of people with this name
Places
*Sian, Iran (disambiguation), various places in Iran
*Sian, Russia, a rural locality in Amur Oblast, Russia
*Xi'an, China, formerly roman ...
.
Death
He died at the age of 84 on 21 December 2014. He was in a nursing home in London after having a stroke six months prior to his death.
References
External links
Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Alan Williams MPTheyWorkForYou.com– Alan Williams MP
Ministerial postsBBC Politics
News items
Remembrance Sunday service intervention October 2001Becomes Father of the House in 2005
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Alan John
1930 births
2014 deaths
Alumni of Cardiff Metropolitan University
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Swansea constituencies
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970
People from Caerphilly
Transport Salaried Staffs' Association-sponsored MPs
UK MPs 1964–1966
UK MPs 1966–1970
UK MPs 1970–1974
UK MPs 1974
UK MPs 1974–1979
UK MPs 1979–1983
UK MPs 1983–1987
UK MPs 1987–1992
UK MPs 1992–1997
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
Welsh Labour Party MPs