Sir Brandon Meredith Rhys-Williams, 2nd Baronet (14 November 1927 – 18 May 1988) was a British

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 ...

politician.

Family background

His father, Sir

Rhys Rhys-Williams Sir Rhys Rhys-Williams, 1st Baronet, (20 October 1865 – 29 January 1955), born Rhys Williams, was a British Liberal Party politician from Wales. He later left the Liberal Party for the Conservatives.''The Times'', 31 January 1955 Family Rhys-W ...

, had been a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MP. His mother,

Juliet Rhys-Williams Dame Juliet Evangeline Rhys-Williams, Lady Rhys-Williams, ( Glyn; 17 December 1898 – 18 September 1964) was a British writer and a Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician who previously joined the National Liberal Party (UK, 1931), Liber ...

, was another Liberal politician who later joined the Conservative Party and became a member of the

Conservative Monday Club The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unioni ...

. After his father's death, Brandon Rhys-Williams inherited his estate at

Miskin Miskin ( cy, Meisgyn) is a village approximately south of Llantrisant in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The origin of the village was a small hamlet known as New Mill, which grew up around New Mill farm. Miskin is part of th ...

Parliamentary career

Rhys-Williams contested

Pontypridd () (colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng (Trallwn) and Treforest (). The ...

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 ...

, and

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr con ...

in the 1960 by-election following the death of

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government in which he spearheaded the creation of the British National Health ...

as well as the same constituency in the following general election. He was defeated each time in these safe

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

seats. He was elected a

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) in the

1968 Kensington South by-election The 1968 Kensington South by-election by-election was held in the Kensington South constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 14 March 1968. The election was to fill a vacancy in the seat formerly held by Conservative MP Willia ...

, representing that seat until

February 1974 The following events occurred in February 1974: February 1, 1974 (Friday) * A fire killed 177 people and injured 293 others in the 23-story Joelma Building at São Paulo in Brazil. Another 11 later died of their injuries. The blaze began on ...

, then for

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

from February 1974 until his death in 1988 aged 60. He was also a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

from 1973 until 1984. The by-election following Rhys-Williams' death, from leukaemia, at the age of sixty, necessitated a by-election in which Kensington was held for the Conservatives by

Dudley Fishburn John Dudley Fishburn (born 8 June 1946) is a British businessman, journalist, and politician. He was Executive Editor of ''The Economist'' and Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom (MP) for Kensington. Early life and family Educated at ...

References

*''The Times Guide to the House of Commons'',

Times Newspapers Ltd News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher of ...

, 1987 *
The National Library for Wales:Digital of Welsh Biography (Sir Brandon Rhys-Williams)

External links

* 1927 births 1988 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies 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 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MEPs MEPs for the United Kingdom 1973–1979 MEPs for England 1979–1984 Deaths from leukemia {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1920s-stub

Family background

Parliamentary career

References

Archives

External links