In My Own Time

by Jeremy Thorpe

  Two wonderful ladies

  There are two wonderful ladies, each of whom has played a vital part in my political life. I refer to Lilian Prowse, MBE, and Judy Young, MBE.

  Lilian became my agent in North Devon in 1956 and remained so until and including the election of 1979. Our partnership lasted for twenty-three years, our friendship for over forty. In 1956 the divisional officers, who included the Hon. Divisional Secretary, Jack Prowse (Lilian’s husband), were wrestling with the setback which had relegated the Liberals in the 1955 election for the first time to third place. Someone asked if there was anyone who would keep the minute books, deal with correspondence and send out the odd circular. Jack said: ‘I think my wife might be able to fit the bill’. She was duly appointed and no one at the time could have imagined that she would provide organising skills for which she was to become famous. Perhaps the greatest compliment paid her was that the Tories used to refer to her as ‘that woman’! She must take a very large share of the credit for the growth of membership, the birth of local branches in almost every part of the constituency and the increase in income to the North Devon Liberal Association.

  Just after the polls closed in the 1959 election, I called in at the office, not only to find everything beautifully tidied, which is rare at the end of a hectic campaign, but two duplicator stencils laid out for immediate use, one assuming we had won, the other on the basis of defeat. Happily the first draft was used, and my majority was 362.

  The most closely fought election was that of 1970. The Conservative candidate had been virtually full time, visiting house to house for the four years preceding the election. The Tory and Liberal machines were evenly matched, and each was a formidable army. At the end of the day, neither side could have done more. We had 1,000 people working on polling day. The total postal vote was 2,500, of which 1,200 were Tory, 1,200 were Liberal and 100 were Labour. The majority was 369. Lilian kept superbly calm during the rather hair-raising count.

  I always used to be amused watching Lilian appealing for help on the telephone; first the left earring would come off, and was stripped for action; she would usually start off to the effect: ‘I don’t expect you can help me’, and then went on to describe what job of work she wanted her listener to take on. Her powers of persuasion were almost always successful. It is difficult to imagine that she is now a great-grandmother, although not immune from tackling challenges, such as raising £100,000 for the organ appeal for Barnstaple Parish Church. She and Jack must be very proud of the fact that in one way or another all of their four children have followed in the tradition of giving public service.

  In 1965 I was elected treasurer of the Liberal Party. Judy Young was working in the Finance Department of the Liberal Headquarters in Smith Square. When I became leader of the party in 1967, I had to give up the treasurership and I asked Judy whether she would like to come over to the House of Commons and join Marilyn Moon and the team in my office, which I am delighted to say she agreed to do. I was immensely fortunate in having in the office, in addition to Judy and Marilyn, Tom Dale, who dealt with organisational matters, such as leader’s tours, and Richard Moore, who carried out research and gave invaluable assistance, not only in the drafting of speeches and articles, but also in response to requests for information on our position regarding political matters in the UK and abroad. Between us we succeeded in moving a mountain of correspondence. Judy accumulated detailed knowledge of North Devon constituents’ cases, and liaised with the Barnstaple office. The two offices would very often decide what was the appropriate action to take in regard to an outstanding case – for example, was a particular national insurance claim to be handled by the local NI manager, or was it a case which I ought to raise with the minister in London? She continues to take an intense interest in the fortunes of North Devon, where she has many friends and is always warmly welcomed.

  She can always be relied upon, particularly in a crisis, which could sometimes involve working into the small hours. I remember writing and re-writing my first leader’s speech to the Liberal Assembly, calling it a day at 3.30 in the morning, which then needed to be typed. Apart from the continuing benefit of Judy’s invaluable assistance – in view of the fact that she still looks after my affairs – she has kept in immaculate order all the papers relating to my political career.

  Amongst her other gifts, Judy is also a skilled gardener, and plants flourishing under her ‘green fingers’. Our garden in Devon is well stocked with birthday and Christmas presents from her of plants, shrubs and trees, which are known as ‘Judy’s children’. It is a growing horticultural family.

  Judy has organised many personal events in my life, and has supported me in happy and less happy circumstances. It has been a partnership and friendship of over thirty years.

  Liberal fortunes

  At various times between 1950 and 1970, the Liberal Party came close to extinction. In planning the 1950 general election, the party strategists, comprising Frank Byers, Philip Fothergill and Edward Martell, decided to fight on a broad front. We had often been told that by fighting on a narrow front we would not have enough MPs to form a government. It was worth the attempt, but the result was slaughter! As I have already mentioned, 475 candidates stood, of whom 319 lost their deposits. The organisation simply was not there. We polled a total vote of 2,621,548 and returned nine MPs. It was clear that the party had been kept alive by a handful of dedicated Liberals who, like Horatius, had bravely held the bridge but, alas, this was not enough. It was a replay of the Charge of the Light Brigade. The only redeeming feature of that election was that Lloyds’ Insurers must have thought it unlikely in the extreme for any national party to lose so many deposits, and we were fully insured!

  Somehow we managed to regroup and face the 1951 election, but we only had 109 candidates, and polled 730,556 votes and returned six MPs. The party’s fortunes had reached rock bottom.

  In retrospect I don’t think any of us realised how near we were to disaster in the 1959 general election. The Conservative Party had used the name ‘Liberal’ in a whole variety of situations, which was bound to confuse the electorate. Thus, standing as Conservative candidates were six calling themselves Conservative and National Liberal; one National Liberal; four National Liberal and Conservatives; six Liberal and Conservatives; but the most debilitating argument was that of the ‘wasted vote’ for the Liberals, However, we fielded only 216 candidates and returned six MPs. Of these, two were the subject of the Bolton and Huddersfield pacts, as the result of which the Liberal Party gave the Tories a straight run against Labour in Huddersfield East and Bolton East, in return for a similar dispensation in Bolton West and Huddersfield West. The arrangements were highly vulnerable and easily revocable. The Tories decided not to fight Cardigan, which was Liberal-held although we would have held it had the Tories stood. However, the fact remains that only three of the six MPs were returned in a three-cornered fight: Clement Davies, the former Liberal leader Jo Grimond and myself (with a majority of 362). With Clem’s death, we were temporarily reduced to five Liberal MPs, as was the case after the Carmarthen by-election in 1957. How much smaller could we get before we were no longer recognised as one of the parties in the House? In the event there was only one Liberal gain in the entire country, namely North Devon, and one loss, which was the neighbouring division of Torrington.

  The next crisis was in 1965, when the Liberal Party seemed to be unaware, or at least unconcerned, that it had an overdraft of £70,000, which for a small party at that time was enormous. Sir Andrew Murray was the incumbent treasurer, and I was approached at the Liberal conference that year and asked whether I would stand against him, to which I agreed and won. My first step was a visit to Coutts Bank, where the party had its account. I was courteously received by the directors, wearing their traditional frock coats. I indicated that I had been elected treasurer and that I would clear off the overdraft at the earliest possible moment. There was, however, one thing they could do to assist the process, and that wa
s to increase the overdraft to £100,000! They agreed. I realised that I had a formidable task ahead of me, and took the view that unless we could turn the figures round in six months the party would have to go out of business. Tremendous efforts were made by Liberals throughout the country. When I first became leader in 1967 I resigned as treasurer, but for the first few years of my leadership I had to devote a great deal of energy towards raising funds. This had not been regarded as part of the leader’s job in the past.

  In the general election of 1970, the Liberal Party lost seven MPs, including Eric Lubbock. The combined majority obtained by John Pardoe in North Cornwall, David Steel in Roxburgh, Selkirk & Peebles, and me was 1,600. If 800 Liberals had voted Tory we three would have been out and the Parliamentary Party would have consisted of one Welsh MP and two Scottish MPs. It was clear that we had not yet then turned the party round.

  By-elections

  By-elections are always of crucial importance to a third party. They can launch a campaign on equal terms as the two other major parties, expressed in terms of funds, organisation and outside help. Also very important is that the media, certainly in recent years, has given almost equal coverage to the three main parties. A successful by-election can do wonders for morale, but one always has to ask the question: is any one result a false start, or is it a harbinger of spring?

  The first successful by-election in my lifetime was the Torrington by-election in March 1958. The campaign was fought on the condition of the area in terms of low wages, lack of industrial jobs and the very restricted incomes of local farmers. I led an army of North Devon volunteers day after day, and finally Mark Bonham Carter cracked the Tory vote, and won by a majority of 219. It was a dress rehearsal for North Devon the following year, when I won the seat.

  The next earth-shaking by-election was at Orpington in March 1962. This constituency, in the stockbroker belt, had at one time as MP Sir Waldron Smithers, who was so right-wing that he was regarded in Parliament as a bit of light relief. The sitting Tory, Donald Sumner, caused a by-election when he was appointed to the county court bench. When the Orpington Liberal executive met to plan the by-election campaign, they were informed by Jack Galloway, the very attractive prospective candidate, that there was an unusual complication Jack had not fully understood the technical terms ‘nisi’ and ‘absolute’, and in good faith had married his present wife before his first marriage had been dissolved. This would not have mattered, but the first wife threatened to attend all Jack’s meetings and denounce him as a bigamist. All agreed that Jack was not to blame but these vindictive wrecking tactics led them to agree reluctantly that he was wise not to fight.

  The Chief Whip, Donald Wade, was telephoned immediately and asked if he could suggest a prominent Liberal, such as Mark Bonham Carter, to step in as candidate. Donald warned them that the writ might be moved at any time and that the Association should find someone local who would not need time to get known in the constituency After discussion, the agent, Christine Parker, who had made the telephone call, turned to Eric Lubbock, a local councillor, and said: ‘What about you doing it, Eric?’ Eric replied that his employers, Charterhouse, were already long-suffering about his absences on council business and he didn’t like to ask them for more time off to fight a by-election. The members of the executive pressed him to reconsider his position and he agreed to put it to his boss the next day.

  He marched into the office of the managing director, Bill Warnock, and said that he had been asked to stand in the by-election. Warnock asked what the figures had been at the last election, and having heard them, laughed and said: ‘Do have three weeks off at the company’s expense.’ The figures requested were 24,303 Conservative, 9,543 Labour and 9,092 Liberal. Eric Lubbock, now Lord Avebury, fought a splendid campaign and won a majority of 7,855. The news was given to Jo Grimond, then leader, live on television – he gasped almost in disbelief. Eric held the seat until 1970, when I, then leader, received the news of his defeat live on TV, and felt shattered.

  His first constituency case was initiated by a telephone call at 2 a.m. His wife, Kina, said that he was asleep but that she would give him a message: ‘Tell the MP’, said the constituent, ‘that my neighbour has thrown a dead badger into my garden, and I want Mr Lubbock to arrange with the council to have it removed!’ Such is the variety of tasks facing an MP.

  When Eric took his seat, the Tories in the chamber greeted him with utter silence. The only Tory MP who shook him by the hand was Bob Boothby. For Liberals it was a memorable occasion. Watching from the Peers’ Gallery in the Commons was the Liberal Party’s elder statesman, Viscount Samuel. He came into the Whips’ Office to congratulate him: ‘This gives me particular pleasure, since I sat in Parliament with both your grandfathers’.

  David Steel won a splendid victory at the 1965 by-election at Roxburgh, Selkirk & Peebles, followed by Wallace Lawler in 1969 at Birmingham Ladywood. These contests were not enough to turn round the fortunes of the party in time for the 1970 general election. However, in 1972 and 1973 (here were five successful by-elections: Rochdale, covering a Labour industrial area, returned Cyril Smith; Sutton & Cheam, a home counties commuter base, returned Graham Tope; the Isle of Ely, in the agricultural Fenlands, elected Clement Freud; Ripon, in rural Yorkshire, returned David Austick, and Berwick-upon-Tweed returned Alan Beith.

  In the spring of 1973 Liberals won 1,500 council seats and proceeded to practise community politics, which resulted in some first-class electoral organisations. For my part, I campaigned in all the by-elections, devoting as much time as I could to help ensure that each contest had adequate organisation, enough outside help, funds and sufficient publicity. Things were beginning to turn round, and the five by-elections already mentioned were the launch pad for the February 1974 election. In an interview I gave to Kenneth Harris prior to the 1973 Liberal conference I said that while Jo Grimond had built up the intellectual credibility of the Liberal Party, my task had been to build its political credibility.

  The result of the February 1974 general election is well known, but bears repetition. Starting from a baseline of two million votes the Liberal strength shot up to six million. It was a bitter fact that those four million additional votes gave us only three more MPs. Under any fair voting system, this should have been a breakthrough.

  Winnable seats

  Having often experienced Liberal failure to win a winnable seat, whether at a by-election or general election, I determined in the 1960s to set up a Winnable Seats Committee, to concentrate on enough seats to give us a proper foothold in the House of Commons. We decided to keep the committee to three in number – namely Ted Wheeler, who was also Chief Agent, and Dominic le Foe, a brilliant publicist and speaker. We decided to keep our activities as free from publicity as possible as we didn’t want the other parties to know which constituencies we were targeting nor to incur the hostility of those Liberal Associations we could not help through lack of resources.

  Ted would go to the selected constituency well in advance and would prepare a highly detailed report which itemised the strengths and weaknesses of each particular constituency. The three of us would then meet the constituency officers for two or three hours. In every case we set targets for membership, income, publicity campaigns and the formation of new branches, the achievement of which was the condition of continuing help from our committee. Money was always tight – sometimes I would get an individual to sponsor a constituency and on several occasions the candidate himself chipped in.

  The stimulus of £1,000 channelled by our committee to a local Association would be more likely to hit the targets than relying on the candidate to raise the money, or part of it, himself.

  Each constituency was a different case. One particular example was in the Inverness constituency, which was eminently winnable. For the candidate, travelling distances from his place of work to the constituency were so vast that by the time he arrived it was almost time to return. I suggested that the candidate should give up his teaching po
st; that we should set up a Scottish Research Centre in Inverness; and that the candidate should become its director, with a modest honorarium. As far as I was concerned he could pack the work of the Centre into four days a fortnight, provided the remaining ten days were used in nursing the seat. David Russell Johnston, as he was then known, the candidate in question, agreed and the distinguished parliamentary career that followed is evidence that our strategy paid off.

  I visited the constituencies of all my parliamentary colleagues to help reinforce their tenure. I also included another group of constituencies which were considered winnable by us. When I became leader I carried on this work, which I believed was absolutely vital.

  Critical timing

  A critical aspect of campaigning lies in timing, whether nationally or locally. If the campaign peaks too early it will begin to run out of steam and may run down very fast. If it fails to reach a peak at all, the campaign clearly will not get off the ground. Ideally the contest should be on a rising market up to and including polling day. This was particularly true in the Torrington by-election in 1958, which was the Liberals’ first gain in a by-election since before the war. If the vote had been taken a week earlier we would have won by a majority of 1,200–1,500 votes. As it was, we reached our peak too early and won by 219 votes. Had polling been, say, two days later, the Conservatives’ counter-offensive would have had an effect and we should probably have been out by 1,200–1,500 votes.

  In the February 1974 general election I was shown a private opinion poll which showed the Liberals could poll 7.5 million votes. My reaction was to conclude that the other parties had also seen this poll and would sense the appalling dangers which the figures represented to them, namely that with a further half a million votes we could make the breakthrough under our present electoral system. In the remaining days of the election they would turn their fire on us. Any votes over five million for us would be a bonus.