Herbert William Bowden, Baron Aylestone, (20 January 1905 – 30 April 1994) was a British Labour politician. Born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, Bowden was a councillor on

Leicester City Council Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently control ...

(1938–45) and president of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

Labour Party in 1938. He served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Bowden was elected at the 1945 general election for

Leicester South Leicester South is a constituency, recreated in 1974, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2011 by Jonathan Ashworth of the Labour Co-op Party (which denotes he is a member of the Labour Party and Co-operative Part ...

, and then for

Leicester South West Leicester South West was a borough constituency in the city of Leicester. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legi ...

at the 1950 election. He was appointed a

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in 1949 and a

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...

in 1950. From 1951 onwards, he was Deputy

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

, then Chief Whip throughout Labour's years in opposition. Bowden was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 1953 Coronation Honours. When Labour returned to power in 1964, Bowden was appointed

Leader of the House of Commons The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of the ...

and

Lord President of the Council The lord president of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the ...

, having become a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the British monarchy, sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises Politics of the United King ...

in 1962. In 1966, he was moved to the new post of

Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Common ...

, serving until 1967. On 1 September 1967 he succeeded Lord Hill as chairman of the

Independent Television Authority The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" (ITV (TV network), ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA exi ...

. On 20 September 1967, Bowden was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Aylestone, ''of

Aylestone Aylestone is a suburb of Leicester, England, southwest of the city centre and to the east of the River Soar. It was formerly a separate village, but the growth of the city since the Leicester Extension Act of 1891 incorporated Aylestone into ...

in the

City of Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nati ...

''. He was appointed a member of the

Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometimes ...

in the

1975 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1975 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 published on 6 June 1975 for ...

, and joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

in the 1980s. Lord Aylestone died in 1994, aged 89, in

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aylestone, Herbert Bowden, Baron 1905 births 1994 deaths Politicians from Cardiff Bowden, Herbert Social Democratic Party (UK) life peers Bowden, Herbert British Secretaries of State for Commonwealth Affairs Lord Presidents of the Council Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour ITV people Bowden, Herbert Bowden, Herbert Bowden, Herbert Bowden, Herbert Bowden, Herbert Bowden, Herbert Bowden, Herbert UK MPs who were granted peerages Life peers created by Elizabeth II Leaders of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Bowden, Herbert Labour Party (UK) councillors Royal Air Force personnel of World War II People from Aylestone Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951 Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970