Sad news on Liberal Democrat Voice this morning: Michael Meadowcroft has died at the age of 84.
His victory in Leeds West in 1983 – the first Liberal gain from Labour at a general election in decades – was one of the few high points of what was, in the context of the Alliance's hopes and ambitions, a deeply disappointing election night.
By then Michael already had a reputation as the Liberal Party's thinker – I remember the frisson when he turned up on the final day of a Union of Liberal Students conference in Leeds in 1979. His pamphlets for Liberator gave you some hope that there was still a coherent Liberal philosophy that was distinct from centrism or social democracy.
Michael was unable to hold Leeds West in 1987 and the West Leeds Dispatch summarises his later career:
Following his defeat he turned to journalism and was a columnist in The Times and The Yorkshire Post. In later years he wrote obituaries of political figures for both The Guardian and Yorkshire Post.
From 1990 he was a consultant to new and emerging democracies and for 26 years led or was a member of 50 missions to 35 different countries
His attempt to run a continuing Liberal Party after the foundation of the Liberal Democrats soon foundered, and he later joined the merged party. It's a mark of his forbearance that he never once objected to my purloining his name to give to Lord Bonkers' gardener.
Yes a sad loss jonathan and I agree with everything you said. I'll never forget his kindness and generosity in spending a whole day helping our county council campaign in 1985 when he was an MP
ReplyDeleteTony Greaves and Michael Meadowcroft kept the flame of real liberalism burning after the merger with the SDP. The LibDems have too few people who are capable of articulating our ideology clearly - David Boyle was another one, also sadly gone too soon.
ReplyDeleteI think it was Michael who came and got ten Young Liberals released from police custody after we were arrested at a Vietnam protest in Leeds. When he was an MP I added a surcharge to every Focus I printed and sent him the proceeds. The affluent southern constituencies that we hold should be pairing with seats that have a nucleus of activity but limited resources: we could be working up another 70 seats that way instead of letting vast swathes of the country have no LibDem activity.
Thank you for sharing this, Jonathan. Very sad news. His political and intellectual contributions continue to inspire.
ReplyDeleteI had the priviledge of signing Michael up to the Liberal Democrats in 2006, though I had known him since the early 70s. His inspiration and clear thinking are indeed a sad loss to the party.
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