Thursday, July 06, 2017

Elizabeth Shields is now the oldest living former Liberal MP

Liberal Democrat Voice reports the death of James Davidson, who was Liberal MP for Aberdeenshire West between 1966 and 1970.

It says his funeral will take place at St Bride’s Church, Newtonmore, at 12 noon on Friday 14 July.

At the time of his death James Davidson was, so far as this blog could establish last year, the oldest living former Liberal MP.

If that post was correct, then the accolade now passes to Elizabeth Shields. She won Ryedale at a by-election in 1986, only to lose it at the following year's general election. She would have fought under the label 'Liberal Alliance'.

Rather impressively, it appears that Elizabeth Shields (whom I met as a student at York a few years before she got to Westminster) is still a member of Ryedale District Council.

1 comment:

Frank Little said...

Elizabeth Shields wrote about her experiences in a book, "A Year to Remember". The fact that I can remember her by-election victory makes me feel very old.