Constituency : North Monmouthshire 1895-1918
Reginald took over from Thomas Price at North Monmouthshire.
Reginald was born in London. He was privately educated in France and Germany before going to Cambridge where he made his mark as a rower. After graduating with a mathematics degree he became a barrister. Reginald was at first a Radical acolyte of Dilke .
In 1897 proposed that Lloyd George become leader of the Welsh Liberal Party. After the Boer War , Reginald moved over to the Liberal Imperialist wing of the party and became a supporter of Rosebery. Nevertheless he was invited to be part of Campbell-Bannerman's administration in 1905 as Financial Secretary to the Treasury. He was efficient and methodical but lacking in charisma and fussy. He had determination but not much vision and disliked the rough and tumble of party politics . He supplied the estimates for the Dreadnought building programme in December 1906.
Just after that , he moved to President of the Board of Education when Augustine Birrell went over to Ireland in 1907. He introduced free places in secondary schools and increased local authorities' responsibilities for childrens' health.
After a year in that post he joined the Cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty. He had many arguments with the Chancellor, Lloyd George, who was looking for defence cuts. Reginald carried the day in favour of building more dreadnoughts at the expense of permanently souring his relations with Lloyd George and Churchill. In 1911 . when he was recovering from a bout of appendicitis, he was persuaded to swap jobs with Churchill and became Home Secretary. A dispute with Haldane in the wake of the Agadir Crisis was a contributory factor. He wrote of his "infinite disgust" at the move.
As Home Secretary he steered the Welsh Disestablishment Bill, the Coal Mines Bill giving miners a minimum wage and the so-called "Cat and Mouse" Act to thwart hunger-striking suffragettes. He was much criticised over the latter and was himself accosted by a suffragette in 1912. He opposed Churchill's plans for a Mediterranean fleet and backed Lloyd George's innocence over the Marconi shares in 1913.
Reginald supported the decision to go to war in 1914 but did no think the B.E.F should be sent. Reginald was in charge of state security and the interment of enemy aliens.
Reginald tried to dissuade Asquith from forming a Coalition government in 1915. He succeeded Lloyd George as Chancellor when the Welshman moved over to Minister of Munitions. He had to raise income taxes to fund the war effort and in September introduced a 33% levy on luxury imports which became known as the "McKenna Duties". It was seen as a major breach of the sacred Liberal doctrine of Free Trade. Reginald opposed the conscription of married men in May 1916 claiming it would deplete vital industries.
In December 1916 Reginald tried to persuade Asquith to sack Lloyd George rather than resign and went into exile with him.
In 1918 Reginald's constituency was split in two. He went with the more working class seat of Pontypool but came third behind Labour and a couponed Conservative with 28% of the vote.
Following his defeat Reginald was invited to become a non-executive director of the Midland Bank by its Chairman, the former Liberal MP Sir Edward Holden. He died less than a year later and Reginald succeeded him. He led the calls for economy during Lloyd George's premiership.
With the Conservatives short of economic expertise both Bonar Law and Baldwin tried to persuade him to join their governments as Chancellor once more. Reginald was interested in the second offer but it was thwarted by the refusal of the City of London's Tory MPs to make way for him and he stayed at the Bank. He opposed the return to the gold standard.
Throughout the thirties there were calls for Reginald to return to government for his financial expertise but it never happened.
Reginald was a Teetotaller. He enjoyed golf and bridge.
He died in 1943 aged 80.
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