I couldn’t resist linking to this vintage Pathé 1945 general election short, even though it has no local interest (apart from the Welsh dragon flag in the background!). It is of Sir Archibald Sinclair, the Liberal leader in 1945, reminding the voters of the progressive policies which the Liberal Party had introduced – the secret ballot, health & unemployment insurance and free education, for instance. Labour did a lot between 1945 and 1949, but it is easy to forget how the foundations had been laid by Liberal governments, and by Liberal thinkers like Keynes and Beveridge.

Sinclair lost his seat of Caithness & Sutherland in that Labour landslide. Perhaps he didn’t campaign too hard locally, relying on a “promise by Sinclair’s Conservative opponent to resign his seat in Sinclair’s favour if he won. Needless to say, the promise went unfulfilled” (Liberal Democrat History Group biography). The beneficiary (if that’s the correct word) as leader of the Liberal Party was Clement Davies, member for Montgomery, now held by Lembit Öpik.

   Leave a comment