Christopher John Salter Rowland (26 September 1929 – 5 November 1967) was a British politician. He was rated one of the more effective of the Labour Party's 1964 intake to Parliament, but died at the age of 38.

Student life

Rowland went to Chesterfield Grammar School and then the London School of Economics where he obtained a degree in Economic Science. He then went to Corpus Christi College, Oxford where he obtained a Bachelor of Philosophy degree.

Student politics

Having joined the Labour Party in 1946, Rowland became an active participant in student politics: in 1952 he was Chairman of the London School of Economics Labour Society. In 1953 he was elected Chairman of the National Association of Labour Student Organisations, a sabbatical post. He also joined the Fabian Society, for whom he became Treasurer of the Africa Bureau.

BBC producer

On leaving student politics in 1954 he was recruited by the BBC as a talks producer in the Overseas Service. In 1957 he was on the Executive of the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship to the USA. When he fought Eastleigh in the 1959 general election, he had to leave the BBC which was committed to political neutrality (his dismissal became a controversy); in 1960 he moved to the Booker Group where he was an Information Officer.

Elected to Parliament

Rowland succeeded in winning the Meriden seat at the

1964 general election The following elections occurred in 1964. Africa * 1964 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1964 Central African Republic parliamentary election * 1964 Central African Republic presidential election * 1964 Dahomeyan general election * 1964 Gabo ...

, a gain which was one of the last constituencies to be announced and which showed that Labour was likely to win an overall majority. He became

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 ...

to the Ministers of State at the Foreign Office.

Rhodesia

In January 1966, Rowland travelled with two other Labour MPs (

Jeremy Bray Jeremy William Bray (29 June 193031 May 2002) was a British Labour politician and a Member of Parliament for 31 years. Early life and education Bray was born in British Hong Kong, the son of Reverend Arthur Bray, a Methodist missionary. He ...

and

David Ennals David Hedley Ennals, Baron Ennals, (19 August 1922 – 17 June 1995) was a British Labour Party politician and campaigner for human rights. He served as Secretary of State for Social Services from 1976 to 1979. Early life and military career ...

) to

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

(which had just declared independence from the United Kingdom; albeit unofficially recognised) to see what conditions there were like, and meet some of those involved. Supporters of Ian Smith asked to meet them and so the three men agreed a time when they would talk; unexpectedly, more than 400 turned up and a rowdy meeting ensued. At the end, one of the Rhodesians attempted to snatch Rowland's papers and Rowland, while attempting to get them back, was forced to the floor, kicked, punched and had water thrown over him. Rowland was insistent that the Wilson government should not back down on confronting Ian Smith's Rhodesia.

Re-election

Rowland easily retained his seat with a much improved majority at the 1966 general election, benefiting from his prominence after the Rhodesian assault incident. He beat Jonathan Aitken, the youngest Conservative Party candidate at the time. His BBC experience showed when he pledged to vote against the government if it decided to allow commercial radio. In October 1967, he was taken ill on a visit to his constituency, and died two weeks later of pneumonia and pleurisy.

References

*M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981) *Obituary, "The Times", 6 November 1967.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowland, Christopher 1929 births 1967 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Alumni of the London School of Economics Deaths from pneumonia in England Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Fabian Society People educated at Chesterfield Grammar School UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970