William Neal de Alwis (born 19 January 1914) was a Ceylonese politician and a senior member of the

Lanka Sama Samaja Party The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP (Literal translation, literally: Lanka Socialist Party, Sinhalese language, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil language, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமா� ...

. William Neal de Alwis was born on 19 January 1914, and he received his education at Newstead Girls' School, Negombo,

All Saints College, Galle All Saints' College, founded in 1857 in Galle, Sri Lanka, is located in a Dutch fortress in a residential suburb of Galle known as the Galle Fort, on Light House Street. The fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With a history spanning ov ...

and

St. Joseph's College, Colombo , motto_translation = In Knowledge and Virtue , location = T. B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates = , caption = School Facade , pushpin_m ...

. At the 1st parliamentary election, held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947, he ran as the LSSP candidate in the Udugama electorate. He failed to get elected losing by 5,464 votes to the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

candidate, D. S. Goonesekera. At the 2nd parliamentary election, held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952, he successfully contested the seat of Udugama, securing 43% of the total vote, defeating Goonesekera by 2,735 votes. He was unable to retain the electorate at the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956, where he lost to Goonesekera, who represented the newly formed

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

, by 2,311 votes. At the 4th parliamentary election, held on 19 March 1960, he ran as the LSSP candidate in the Baddegama electorate. Whilst de Alwis only received less than 20% of the total vote, out of a field of nine candidates, it was sufficient for him to secure the seat and re-enter parliament. At the subsequent

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

s held on 20 July 1960 he retained the seat with an increased majority, receiving 11,692 votes (49% of the total vote). On 27 January 1962, officers of the Army and Police attempted a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

aimed at overthrowing the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 191 ...

. The key leaders were arrested before the coup was carried out however not before the first and only arrest of the coup occurred, with de Alwis was arrested at his residence at 9.30pm and detained for nine hours in Police custody. At the 1970 parliamentary election, held in May, de Alwis was re-elected to Baddegama, with 22,126 votes (57.5% of the total vote). In 1968 the LSSP formed a political alliance, the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...

, with the

(SLFP) and the

Communist Party of Sri Lanka The Communist Party of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය, ''Sri Lankavay Komiyunist Pakshaya'' ta, இலங்கை கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சி, trans ...

(CPSL), with the United Front successfully winning the 1970 parliamentary election. In September 1970 de Alwis was appointed Deputy Minister of Public Administration, Local Government and Home Affairs. On 1 October 1975 de Alwis was appointed as Deputy

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

as part of the

Second Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet The Second Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet was the central government of Ceylon led by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike between 1970 and 1977. It was formed in May 1970 after the parliamentary election and it ended in July 1977 after the opposi ...

, a position he retained until February 1977. At the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977, de Alwis switched allegiance to the

, however he failed to get re-elected, and was defeated at the polls by the UNP candidate, E. D. Wickrematilaka, who received 23,375 votes (52% of the total vote) as opposed to de Alwis’ 17,778 votes (39.5% of the total vote).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Alwis, Neal 1914 births Date of death missing Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon