Constituency : Cardiganshire 1923-32, Carmarthen 1945-56
A faction of the Cardiganshire Liberals could not accept the term of party reunion that sitting Liberal MPs got the nomination regardless of previous affiliation. Rhys, who stood for the Asquithians in 1922 against Ernest Evans, stood again as an Independent Liberal. He pledged to take the party whip as soon as he was elected. This time he was successful as Unionist intervention ate into Evans' previous vote.
Rhys was a Congregational minister's son from Glamorgan. He was educated at University of North Wales, Bangor . He became a school teacher. He served in World War One where he was wounded in the leg. After the war, he became a barrister He was an old school laissez-faire Liberal and a fierce critic of Lloyd George.
Rhys introduced a Welsh Local Option Bill in 1924 but it failed to garner enough support from Labour MPs.
Rhys had the official Liberal nomination in 1924 and was returned unopposed. He easily saw off a Conservative in 1929 and then Labour in 1931.
In 1932, Rhys was appointed a Metropolitan Police magistrate and had to resign his seat. In 1936 he became Regional Director of the BBC in Wales and President of the London Welsh Trust.
Rhys decided to return to politics and in 1945 pulled off the shock result of the 1945 election when he unseated the Labour MP although he had the support of the Conservatives. They continued to stand aside for him and he scraped in with tiny majorities in 1950 and 1951. Plaid Cymru's intervention in 1955 seemed to benefit him rather than Labour and he was returned more comfortably.
Rhys opposed Clement Davies' decision to abstain on the King's Speech in 1950.
Rhys became Deputy Speaker in 1951. He was knighted in 1954.
Rhys remained a staunch believer in individualism once saying, "There is no man alive who is sufficiently good to rule the life of the man next door to him". He was regarded as the last Gladstonian in the Commons.
He died in 1956 aged 68. His seat went to Megan Lloyd-George who had defected to Labour a year earlier.
No comments:
Post a Comment