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Abstract
Little has been written about the National Liberal party in the period following the Woolton-Teviot Agreement of May 1947. But the party maintained a theoretically independent existence for a further 20 years. This article examines the relationship on the ground between Conservatives and National Liberals in the North Wales constituency of Denbighshire West. It concludes that, despite diminishing organisational strength, the National Liberals remained a significant factor in the electoral calculations of the local Conservative party, anxious to maximise its voter appeal in a marginal seat, for at least a decade after Woolton-Teviot.
Notes
[1] CitationRamsden, An Appetite for Power, 535.
[2] CitationJohn Ramsden provides a useful, but brief, overview, in The Age of Churchill and Eden, 200–205.
[3] Flintshire Record Office, Morris-Jones MSS 10, diary 6 February 1930.
[4] Flintshire Record Office, Morris-Jones MSS, 11, diary 30 October 1930.
[5] Flintshire Record Office, Morris-Jones MSS, 12, diary 23 September 1931.
[6] Denbigh Free Press 10 October 1931.
[7] CitationMorris-Jones, Doctor in the Whips' Room, 100–101.
[8] Flintshire Record Office, Morris-Jones MSS 17, diary 26 September 1936.
[9] Flintshire Record Office, Morris-Jones MSS 17, diary 30 September 1936.
[10] Flintshire Record Office, Morris-Jones MSS 17, 19, diary 31 July 1938.
[11] Morris-Jones, Doctor in the Whips' Room, 94.
[12] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/6, minutes of Denbighshire Conservative Association [D.C.A.], Finance and General Purposes Committee 3 June and 23 October 1947.
[13] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/6, minutes of Denbighshire Conservative Association [D.C.A.], Finance and General Purposes Committee 3 June and 23 October 1947, report of conference with representatives of the Liberal National Organisation 11 October 1947.
[14] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/6, minutes of Denbighshire Conservative Association [D.C.A.], Finance and General Purposes Committee 3 June and 23 October 1947, minutes of D.C.A. Finance and General Purposes Committee 10 April 1948.
[15] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/6, minutes of Denbighshire Conservative Association [D.C.A.], Finance and General Purposes Committee 3 June and 23 October 1947, D.C.A., Emergency General Meeting 19 November 1948.
[16] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/6, minutes of Denbighshire Conservative Association [D.C.A.], Finance and General Purposes Committee 3 June and 23 October 1947, DD/DM/80/9, D.C.A., Central Council meeting 15 March 1950.
[17] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/6, minutes of Denbighshire Conservative Association [D.C.A.], Finance and General Purposes Committee 3 June and 23 October 1947, DD/DM/80/6, minutes of D.C.A., Finance and General Purposes Committee 6 October 1949.
[18] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/6, minutes of Denbighshire Conservative Association [D.C.A.], Finance and General Purposes Committee 3 June and 23 October 1947, DD/DM/80/9, D.C.A., Central Council meeting 15 March 1950.
[19] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/6, minutes of Denbighshire Conservative Association [D.C.A.], Finance and General Purposes Committee 3 June and 23 October 1947, D.C.A., Central Council meeting 16 November 1950.
[20] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/6, minutes of Denbighshire Conservative Association [D.C.A.], Finance and General Purposes Committee 3 June and 23 October 1947, D.C.A., Executive Committee meeting 20 February 1951.
[21] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/6, minutes of Denbighshire Conservative Association [D.C.A.], Finance and General Purposes Committee 3 June and 23 October 1947, D.C.A., Central Council meeting 26 September 1951.
[22] CitationHorne, Macmillan, 298.
[23] CitationMacmillan, Tides of Fortune, 310.
[24] CitationButler, Coalitions in British Politics, 95.
[25] The Times 27 February 1950.
[26] Bodleian Library, Oxford, Simon MSS 98, memorandum for Lord Woolton 27 February 1950.
[27] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/6, D.C.A., memorandum by agent for meeting of Finance and General Purposes Committee 3 June 1947.
[28] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/6, D.C.A., memorandum by agent for meeting of Finance and General Purposes Committee 3 June 1947, DD/DM/80/9, ‘Future Policy’ by Lt-Col. J.C. Wynne-Edwards, submitted to Conservative Central Council 10 November 1951.
[29] DD/DM/80/9, ‘Future Policy’ by Lt-Col. J.C. Wynne-Edwards, submitted to Conservative Central Council 10 November 1951
[30] DD/DM/80/9, ‘Future Policy’ by Lt-Col. J.C. Wynne-Edwards, submitted to Conservative Central Council 10 November 1951, DD/DM/80/9, ‘Denbigh Division: Co-ordination of Conservatives and National Liberals’, as amended by the Executive Committee 21 January 1952.
[31] DD/DM/80/9, ‘Denbigh Division: Co-ordination of Conservatives and National Liberals’, as amended by the Executive Committee 21 January 1952, D.C.A., minutes of meeting of Co-ordinating Committee 7 March 1953.
[32] DD/DM/80/9, ‘Denbigh Division: Co-ordination of Conservatives and National Liberals’, as amended by the Executive Committee 21 January 1952, D.C.A., Central Council meeting 12 March 1953.
[33] DD/DM/80/9, ‘Denbigh Division: Co-ordination of Conservatives and National Liberals’, as amended by the Executive Committee 21 January 1952, D.C.A., Central Council Extraordinary Meeting 17 December 1954.
[34] DD/DM/80/9, ‘Denbigh Division: Co-ordination of Conservatives and National Liberals’, as amended by the Executive Committee 21 January 1952, DD/DM/80/10, analysis of 1955 General Election by Lt-Col. J.C. Wynne-Edwards.
[35] DD/DM/80/9, ‘Denbigh Division: Co-ordination of Conservatives and National Liberals’, as amended by the Executive Committee 21 January 1952, D.C.A., Central Council meeting 20 October 1955.
[36] DD/DM/80/9, ‘Denbigh Division: Co-ordination of Conservatives and National Liberals’, as amended by the Executive Committee 21 January 1952, D.C.A., Central Council meeting 11 April 1956.
[37] DD/DM/80/9, ‘Denbigh Division: Co-ordination of Conservatives and National Liberals’, as amended by the Executive Committee 21 January 1952, D.C.A., Central Council meeting 13, D.C.A., Central Council meeting 13 March 1957.
[38] DD/DM/80/9, ‘Denbigh Division: Co-ordination of Conservatives and National Liberals’, as amended by the Executive Committee 21 January 1952, D.C.A., Central Council special meeting 9 May 1958.
[39] DD/DM/80/9, ‘Denbigh Division: Co-ordination of Conservatives and National Liberals’, as amended by the Executive Committee 21 January 1952, D.C.A., statement by Wynne-Edwards to Special General Meeting of the Association 21 July 1958.
[40] In July 1958 British troops were flown to Amman in response to an appeal from King Hussein of Jordan, following the assassination of King Feisal of Iraq and the declaration of a republic.
[41] North Wales Weekly News 24 July 1958.
[42] Wrexham Leader 29 September 1959.
[43] Liverpool Daily Post 5 October 1959.
[44] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/10, D.C.A., Chairman's report for 1959.
[45] Denbigh Free Press 12 September 1959.
[46] Liverpool Daily Post 9 October 1959.
[47] Liverpool Echo 1 October 1959.
[48] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/10, D.C.A., Analysis of 1959 General Election by Lt-Col. J.C. Wynne-Edwards presented to Central Council meeting 19 November 1959.
[49] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/10, D.C.A., Analysis of 1959 General Election by Lt-Col. J.C. Wynne-Edwards presented to Central Council meeting 19 November 1959, D.C.A., Executive Committee meeting 19 November 1959.
[50] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/10, D.C.A., Analysis of 1959 General Election by Lt-Col. J.C. Wynne-Edwards presented to Central Council meeting 19 November 1959, D.C.A., Central Council meeting 19 November 1959.
[51] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/10, D.C.A., Analysis of 1959 General Election by Lt-Col. J.C. Wynne-Edwards presented to Central Council meeting 19 November 1959, D.C.A., Central Council Annual General Meeting 15 March 1960.
[52] Somewhat confusingly, after the General Election of 1950 those MPs who had campaigned with joint Conservative and National Liberal support formed the so-called ‘Liberal-Unionist Parliamentary Group’. The title was perhaps prophetic, echoing that of the Liberal Unionists who had left Gladstone's Liberal party in 1886 before being fully absorbed into Conservatism in 1912.
[53] Denbighshire Record Office, DD/DM/80/10, Executive Committee meeting 20 October 1960.
[54] Liverpool Daily Post 11 April 1964.
[55] Denbigh Free Press 14 July 1962.
[56] North Wales Weekly News 9 March 1963.
[57] Western Mail 1 October 1964.
[58] North Wales Weekly News February 1964.
[59] Daily Telegraph 25 May 1959.
[60] The Times 14 May 1962.
[61] The National Liberal party became fully integrated into the Conservative ranks following the General Election of 1966.