Joseph Grimond, Baron Grimond, (; 29 July 1913 – 24 October 1993), known as Jo Grimond, was a British politician, leader of the

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for eleven years from 1956 to 1967 and again briefly on an interim basis in 1976. Grimond was a long-term supporter of Scottish home rule; and, during his leadership, he successfully advocated for the Liberal Party to support the abolition of Britain's nuclear arsenal.

Early life

Grimond was born in St Andrews, Fife, and was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and Balliol College, Oxford. He was at school and university with, among others, cricket commentator Brian Johnston and playwright

William Douglas-Home William Douglas Home (3 June 1912 – 28 September 1992) was a British dramatist and politician. Early life Douglas-Home (he later dropped the hyphen from his surname) was the third son of Charles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home, and Lady Lili ...

. He received a first-class honours degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He later became a barrister, being admitted to the bar as a member of

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Member of Parliament

After serving as a Major in

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, he was selected by the Liberal Party to contest Orkney and Shetland, the most northerly constituency in the United Kingdom. He narrowly missed capturing the seat in 1945 but entered Parliament at the 1950 general election for the constituency. The Liberals and their successors, the Liberal Democrats, have continuously retained the seat to the present day. Grimond continued to represent the constituency until he retired from politics in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, and regularly polled more than 60% of the votes cast in the northern Scottish archipelagos.

Leader of the Liberal Party

The party Grimond inherited from former leader

Clement Davies Edward Clement Davies (19 February 1884 – 23 March 1962) was a Welsh politician and leader of the Liberal Party from 1945 to 1956. Early life and education Edward Clement Davies was born on 19 February 1884 in Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire, ...

had commanded barely 2.5% of the vote at the general election of 1955, but even that figure amounted to a modest revival in Liberal Party fortunes compared with 1951. This progress increased under the leadership of Grimond who proved himself to be a man of considerable personal charm and intelligence, with substantial gifts as public speaker and as an author. Widely respected as well as trusted, he ensured that by the time he left the leadership in 1967, the Liberals had once again become a notable political force. It was during his tenure that the first post-war Liberal revival took place: under Grimond's leadership, the Liberals doubled their seat tally and won historic by-elections at Torrington in 1958 (the first by-election gain by the Liberal Party for 29 years), Orpington in 1962, and Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles in 1965. In 1962, the Liberals almost succeeded in capturing Blackpool North, West Derbyshire and Chippenham from the Conservatives and Leicester North East from Labour. Grimond's dynamic and principled leadership proved attractive to many young aspiring politicians, including John Pardoe and three future party leaders,

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and

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. In 1967, having led the party through three general elections, he made way for a younger leader, the charismatic

Jeremy Thorpe John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979, and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at the ...

. In 1976, when Thorpe was forced to resign because of a scandal, Grimond stepped in as interim leader until the election of a replacement,

. Among other posts, Grimond was a barrister and publisher in the 1930s, an army major during

, Secretary of the

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from 1947 to 1949, and held the Rectorships of the

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and the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

and the Chancellorship of the

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at Canterbury ( elected in 1970). His many books include ''The Liberal Future'' (1959, credited with reinvigorating radical liberalism as a coherent modern ideology), ''The Liberal Challenge'' (1963), and ''Memoirs'' (1979). He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1983 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...

Retirement and death

Upon leaving the

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, he was created a life peer as Baron Grimond, of Firth in the County of Orkney on 12 October 1983. He remained devoted to his former parliamentary constituency, and was buried in Finstown on Orkney.

Marriage and children

In 1938, Grimond married liberal politician Laura Bonham Carter (1918–1994). His wife was the granddaughter of the former Liberal Prime Minister

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

, and the daughter of the influential Liberal politician and peer Violet Asquith (1887–1969) and her politician and civil servant husband,

Maurice Bonham Carter Sir Maurice Bonham-Carter (11 October 1880 – 7 June 1960) was an English Liberal politician, civil servant and first-class cricketer. He was H. H. Asquith's Principal Private Secretary during Asquith's time as Prime Minister from 1910 to 191 ...

. Laura Grimond was also the sister of another life peer, Mark Bonham Carter, (1922–1994) who was the victor of the 1958 by-election at Torrington. The couple had four children: * (Joseph) Andrew Grimond (26 March 1939 – 23 March 1966), a sub-editor of ''

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'', lived in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

until his suicide at the age of 26. * Grizelda "Gelda" (Jane) Grimond (1942–2017), who had a daughter Katherine (born 1973) by the film and stage director

Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''Tom Jones''. Early ...

. Her daughter Katherine Hess is married to Steven Hess, and had three children as of 2017. * John (Jasper) Grimond (born October 1946), a former foreign editor of ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' as Johnny Grimond, now writer at large for the publication, who in 1973 married Kate Fleming (born 1946), eldest daughter of the writer Peter Fleming and actress Celia Johnson, and the couple have three children together. He is the main author of ''The Economist Style Guide''. * (Thomas) Magnus Grimond (born 13 June 1959),Barberis, 2005 p. 81 journalist and financial correspondent, married to travel author Laura Grimond (née Raison), and has four children.

Writings

*''The Liberal Future'' (Faber and Faber, London, 1959) *''The Liberal Challenge'' (Hollis and Carter, London, 1963) *(with Brian Nevel) ''The Referendum'' (

Rex Collings Rex Collings (18 June 1925 – 23 May 1996) was an English publisher who specialized in books relating to Africa and children's books. He ensured the publication of Wole Soyinka's plays, and was the first to publish ''Watership Down'' (1972) by Ri ...

, London, 1975) *''The Common Welfare'' (Temple Smith, London, 1978) *''Memoirs'' (Heinemann, London, 1979) *''A Personal Manifesto'' (Martin Robertson, Oxford, 1983) *''The St. Andrews of Jo Grimond'' (Alan Sutton, St. Andrew's, 1992) Grimond was also a prolific writer of pamphlets: see the McManus biography (below) for a complete list of publications.

References

Sources

*Peter Barberis, ''Liberal Lion: Jo Grimond, A Political Life'' (I.B. Tauris, London, 2005)
Jo Grimond (Lord Grimond) 1913–93
biography from the Liberal Democrat History Group

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grimond, Jo 1913 births 1993 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Asquith family British Army personnel of World War II Chancellors of the University of Kent Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fife and Forfar Yeomanry officers Leaders of the Liberal Party (UK) Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Scottish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Orkney and Shetland Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Gibbs School People educated at Eton College People from St Andrews Rectors of the University of Aberdeen Rectors of the University of Edinburgh 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 20th-century Scottish lawyers People associated with Shetland