Clement Davies
Encyclopedia
Clement Edward Davies KC, MP
(19 February 1884 – 23 March 1962) was a Welsh
politician
and leader of the Liberal Party
from 1945 to 1956.
, Wales
, and educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge
, Davies was called to the Bar of England & Wales and was subsequently appointed a KC in 1923. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1929 as a Liberal Member of Parliament
(MP) for Montgomeryshire
. In 1931 the Liberals divided into three groups and he became one of the Liberal National
MPs supporting the National Government. However in 1939 he resigned from both the party and supporting the National Government. During World War II
he was chairman of the All Party Action Group that played a significant role in forcing the resignation of Prime Minister
, Neville Chamberlain
.
In 1942 he rejoined the Liberal Party. Despite the fact that he had been absent from it for a decade, and with lingering suspicions that his commitment to Liberalism was less than full, he then became leader of the party in 1945 after Archibald Sinclair
surprisingly lost his seat in the electoral debacle of that year that reduced the Liberals to just 12 seats in the House of Commons.
Davies had not sought the position of leader, and was not enthusiastic about it. But with only 12 MPs—6 of whom were only newly elected that year—the party's choice was somewhat limited. It was widely expected, and generally hoped (probably even by Davies himself), that he would be only a 'caretaker' leader until the more dynamic and popular Sinclair could get back into the House of Commons. But this never happened, and Davies was in fact to remain party leader for the next 11 years, taking the Liberals through three General Elections.
Davies was President of the London Welsh Trust, which runs the London Welsh Centre
, Gray's Inn Road
, from 1946 until 1947.
His first General Election as party leader in 1950 reduced the party to 9 MPs with barely 9% of the vote, and in those of 1951
and 1955
, the Liberals fell back even further, holding only 6 seats, with 2.5% and 2.7% of the vote (although these vote shares were largely attributed to the huge drop in the number of seats the party fought). He finally resigned as leader at the party conference in September, 1956, and was succeeded by the much younger and more vigorous Jo Grimond, following what was effectively a coup by the membership against the executive; both Davies and Grimond appeared to be unaware of the coup until it was over.
Davies therefore led the Liberal Party, which in the late 19th Century dominated British politics virtually without opposition, through its lowest period, when it was reduced to a minor party
: the result of the electorate's polarisation between the Labour
and the Conservatives
. The cliche "A Liberal vote is a wasted vote" argument never held truer than in the 1950s. He was personally well liked, both in the party and beyond it. The general view of him was that of a personally decent man who did his best in a position to which neither taste nor temperament fitted him.
Numerous personal tragedies darkened his life. He lost three of his four children within the space of a few years after the outbreak of the Second World War. His oldest son David died in 1939 as a result of natural causes related to epilepsy, his daughter Mary committed suicide in 1941 (though the family always refused to acknowledged that she had deliberately killed herself) and another son, Geraint, was killed on active service in 1942. Each of his children died at the age of 24, except for Davies's fourth son, Stanley, who survived until old age.
Davies was an alcoholic for decades, and this left him in a weakened state of health, particularly by the time he took on the burden of party leadership. For two of his three General Election campaigns as leader, for example, he was hospitalised. And, despite the general affection in which he was held, his leadership was widely regarded as lacklustre and ineffective, and thus contributing to the party's malaise at a time when it was most in need of direction.
In recent years, however, his role has been revised and treated more sympathetically. Historians now point out that with the Cold War tensions of the late 1940s and early 1950s in particular, leading the Liberal Party then would have been a challenge for anybody, and that in simply keeping the party together and in existence at all, Davies made a significant contribution. It has also emerged that he was offered cabinet office (Education Minister) in 1951 by Winston Churchill
in exchange for supporting the new Conservative government, but refused on the grounds that it would have destroyed the Liberal Party.
Clement Davies died in 1962, aged 78. Though still an MP, he was by then largely detached from the affairs of the Liberal party and acted semi-independently. He was succeeded as Liberal MP for Montgomeryshire by Emlyn Hooson. He was made a Privy Councillor
in 1947.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(19 February 1884 – 23 March 1962) was a Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and leader of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
from 1945 to 1956.
Life
Born in LlanfyllinLlanfyllin
Llanfyllin is a small town in Powys, Mid Wales, United Kingdom.- Location, history and amenities :Llanfyllin's population at the date of the 2001 Census was 1,407. The town lies on the River Cain by the Berwyn Mountains in Montgomeryshire. It is known for its holy well, dedicated to Saint Myllin....
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the fifth-oldest college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich.- Foundation :...
, Davies was called to the Bar of England & Wales and was subsequently appointed a KC in 1923. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1929 as a Liberal Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Montgomeryshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in 1542, it elects one Member of Parliament , traditionally known as the knight of the shire, by the first-past-the-post system of election.The Montgomeryshire Welsh Assembly...
. In 1931 the Liberals divided into three groups and he became one of the Liberal National
National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)
The National Liberal Party, known until 1948 as the Liberal National Party, was a liberal political party in the United Kingdom from 1931 to 1968...
MPs supporting the National Government. However in 1939 he resigned from both the party and supporting the National Government. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he was chairman of the All Party Action Group that played a significant role in forcing the resignation of Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
.
In 1942 he rejoined the Liberal Party. Despite the fact that he had been absent from it for a decade, and with lingering suspicions that his commitment to Liberalism was less than full, he then became leader of the party in 1945 after Archibald Sinclair
Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso
Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso KT, CMG, PC , known as Sir Archibald Sinclair, Bt between 1912 and 1952, and often as Archie Sinclair, was a British politician and leader of the Liberal Party....
surprisingly lost his seat in the electoral debacle of that year that reduced the Liberals to just 12 seats in the House of Commons.
Davies had not sought the position of leader, and was not enthusiastic about it. But with only 12 MPs—6 of whom were only newly elected that year—the party's choice was somewhat limited. It was widely expected, and generally hoped (probably even by Davies himself), that he would be only a 'caretaker' leader until the more dynamic and popular Sinclair could get back into the House of Commons. But this never happened, and Davies was in fact to remain party leader for the next 11 years, taking the Liberals through three General Elections.
Davies was President of the London Welsh Trust, which runs the London Welsh Centre
London Welsh Centre
The London Welsh Centre is a community and arts centre on Gray's Inn Road, in the London Borough of Camden. The Centre is owned and run by the London Welsh Trust....
, Gray's Inn Road
Gray's Inn Road
Gray's Inn Road, formerly Gray's Inn Lane, is a major road in central London, in the London Borough of Camden. It is named after Gray's Inn, one of the main Inns of Court. The road starts in Holborn, near Chancery Lane tube station and the boundaries of the City of London and the London Borough...
, from 1946 until 1947.
His first General Election as party leader in 1950 reduced the party to 9 MPs with barely 9% of the vote, and in those of 1951
United Kingdom general election, 1951
The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held eighteen months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats...
and 1955
United Kingdom general election, 1955
The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election. It resulted in a substantially increased majority of 60 for the Conservative government under new leader and prime minister Sir Anthony Eden against Labour Party, now in their 20th year...
, the Liberals fell back even further, holding only 6 seats, with 2.5% and 2.7% of the vote (although these vote shares were largely attributed to the huge drop in the number of seats the party fought). He finally resigned as leader at the party conference in September, 1956, and was succeeded by the much younger and more vigorous Jo Grimond, following what was effectively a coup by the membership against the executive; both Davies and Grimond appeared to be unaware of the coup until it was over.
Davies therefore led the Liberal Party, which in the late 19th Century dominated British politics virtually without opposition, through its lowest period, when it was reduced to a minor party
Minor party
Minor party is a political party that play a smaller role than a major party in a country's politics and elections. The difference between minor and major parties can be so big that the membership total, donations, and the candidates that they are able to produce or attract are very distinct...
: the result of the electorate's polarisation between the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
and the Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. The cliche "A Liberal vote is a wasted vote" argument never held truer than in the 1950s. He was personally well liked, both in the party and beyond it. The general view of him was that of a personally decent man who did his best in a position to which neither taste nor temperament fitted him.
Numerous personal tragedies darkened his life. He lost three of his four children within the space of a few years after the outbreak of the Second World War. His oldest son David died in 1939 as a result of natural causes related to epilepsy, his daughter Mary committed suicide in 1941 (though the family always refused to acknowledged that she had deliberately killed herself) and another son, Geraint, was killed on active service in 1942. Each of his children died at the age of 24, except for Davies's fourth son, Stanley, who survived until old age.
Davies was an alcoholic for decades, and this left him in a weakened state of health, particularly by the time he took on the burden of party leadership. For two of his three General Election campaigns as leader, for example, he was hospitalised. And, despite the general affection in which he was held, his leadership was widely regarded as lacklustre and ineffective, and thus contributing to the party's malaise at a time when it was most in need of direction.
In recent years, however, his role has been revised and treated more sympathetically. Historians now point out that with the Cold War tensions of the late 1940s and early 1950s in particular, leading the Liberal Party then would have been a challenge for anybody, and that in simply keeping the party together and in existence at all, Davies made a significant contribution. It has also emerged that he was offered cabinet office (Education Minister) in 1951 by Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
in exchange for supporting the new Conservative government, but refused on the grounds that it would have destroyed the Liberal Party.
Clement Davies died in 1962, aged 78. Though still an MP, he was by then largely detached from the affairs of the Liberal party and acted semi-independently. He was succeeded as Liberal MP for Montgomeryshire by Emlyn Hooson. He was made a Privy Councillor
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
in 1947.
Further reading
- Violet Bonham CarterViolet Bonham CarterHelen Violet Bonham Carter, Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury, DBE was a British politician and diarist. She was the daughter of H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister from 1908-1916, and later became active in Liberal politics herself, being a leading opponent of appeasement, standing for Parliament and being...
, ed. Mark Pottle, Daring to Hope: Diaries 1945-1969 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000) - Alun Wyburn-Powell, Clement Davies: Liberal Leader (Politico's, 2003) ISBN 1-902301-97-8
External links
- Clement Davies 1884–1962 biography from the Liberal Democrat History Group