Wednesday, 5 December 2018
2111 Joseph Maclay
Constituency : Paisley 1931-45
The Liberals had a difficult time in the 1928-31 Parliament. After the disappointing result in 1929, the Liberals became hopelessly divided over support for the Labour government. Lloyd George pursued a policy of co-operation with Labour with a view to extracting concessions on electoral reform. Just as he succeeded in getting McDonald's agreement, the rug was pulled from under him by old enemy John Simon who had been negotiating with Chamberlain and led around half the parliamentary party into resigning the Liberal whip. Before the dust had settled, the government was engulfed in crisis and the plan for a National Government emerged. Despite Simon's band being more congenial, it was the official Liberals who were invited to join the government. Lloyd George was conveniently sidelined by illness but gave his blessing to his deputy Herbert Samuel to join the government. When the Tories insisted on an election, Samuel, to Lloyd George's horror, agreed. Lloyd George withdrew his support but only three relatives and Frank Owen went with him as Independent Liberals. Simon had not been idle and outflanked Samuel by promising unqualified support for the government including protection. This guaranteed no Conservative opposition for the bulk of his followers who now called themselves Liberal Nationals. This wasn't the case for Samuel's group although Conservatives did stand down for official Liberals in certain seats/
The total Liberal representation increased to 74. The Liberal Nationals won 34 seats, and their haul included a few newcomers. The official Liberals lost 15 seats to the Tories but gained a few from Labour where the Tories withdrew and finished with 36. Apart from Owen, Lloyd George's family group held their seats.
Joseph took Paisley which Asquith had lost in 1924. The Conservatives withdrew for him although his majority was larger than their vote in 1929.
Joseph was the son of Baron Maclay. He was educated at Fettes College and Cambridge. He became chairman of his father's shipping company. He also had interests in banking.
Joseph's maiden speech opposed the government's Wheat Bill in 1932 though he had accepted other tariffs..
Joseph was a friend of Herbert Samuel but refused to go into opposition with him in 1933 and remained on the government benches though he declined to join the Liberal Nationals. He accompanied Samuel to a Conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations in Canada in 1933.
As a government supporter, Joseph was spared Tory opposition in 1935 and scraped home by 377 votes . In 1940, he and Gwilym Lloyd George were the only Liberals who voted with Chamberlain in the Norway debate. In 1943, he was appointed Head of the Convoy and Admiralty Liaison in the Ministry of War Transport.
Joseph stood down in 1945.The following year he became president of the Chamber of Shipping of the U.K. and chaired the International Shipping Conference in London in 1947.
Joseph succeeded his father in 1951.
He died in 1969 aged 70.
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