Sir William Thomas Williams, QC (22 September 1915 – 28 February 1986) was a British Labour Co-operative politician. Williams was educated at University College, Cardiff and St Catherine's College, Oxford. He was President of the South Wales University

Students' Union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

in 1939. He was a Baptist minister and a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

with the Royal Air Force for returned

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

. He became a barrister, called to the bar by

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

, and a Queen's Counsel, and was bursar and a tutor at

Manchester College, Oxford Harris Manchester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded in Warrington in 1757 as a college for Unitarian students and moved to Oxford in 1893. It became a full college of th ...

. Williams was Member of Parliament (MP) for Hammersmith South from a

1949 by-election Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

to 1955, Baron's Court from 1955 to 1959, and Warrington from a 1961 by-election. Williams served as

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 Attorney-General from 1964. In 1969, Williams was appointed by the then- East Pakistan based

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

, one of Bangladesh's main political factions since independence in 1971, to represent Pakistani and later-Bangladeshi politician Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the Agartala Conspiracy Case. The military junta of Gen.

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

did not allow Williams to represent Rahman, citing domestic security and interference in sovereign matters. In 1981, Williams, who had continued working as a barrister throughout his time in Parliament, was appointed a circuit Judge. This appointment obliged him to vacate his seat and led to a by-election at which

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...

became the first Parliamentary candidate for the Social Democratic Party, although Labour narrowly retained the seat. Williams was the last Member to vacate a seat for actual paid office until 2022, when West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper accepted her role as the chair of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. He was knighted in the

1976 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1976 to celebra ...

References

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

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Thomas 1915 births 1986 deaths Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Alumni of Cardiff University Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Knights Bachelor Royal Air Force chaplains World War II chaplains Fellows of Harris Manchester College, Oxford