Alan Lee Williams

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 29 November 1930) is a former president of the

Atlantic Treaty Association The Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) is an umbrella organization which draws together political leaders, academics, military officials, and diplomats to support the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The ATA is an independent organization ...

, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Labour Party politician, writer and visiting professor of politics at

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

Early life

Williams was educated at

The John Roan School The John Roan School is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school and sixth form located in Greenwich, south-east London, England. History Grammar schools The current school was originally two grammar schools. The boys' school was founde ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

and worked as a journeyman freeman and craft-owning freeman of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen, between 1945 and 1952, before attending Ruskin College, Oxford. He was elected a borough

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

in Greenwich in 1952, at the age of twenty-one, serving until 1955. He worked as the national youth officer of the Labour Party between 1955 and 1962 and then as the National Youth Officer of the

United Nations Association A United Nations Association (UNA) is a non-governmental organization that exists in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of member states and the United Nations to raise public awareness of the UN and its work, to promo ...

between 1962 and 1966. Williams was chairman of the British National Committee of the

World Assembly of Youth The World Assembly of Youth (WAY; French: ''Assemblée Mondiale de la Jeunesse''; Spanish: ''Asamblea Mundial de la Juventud'') is the international coordinating body of national youth councils and national youth organisations. The full members ...

for four years.

Political career

He first contested the

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable enclosure used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

seat of

Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

in 1964. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for the marginal seat of

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

three times, first winning the seat in 1966. He lost to the Conservative John Loveridge in 1970, but regained the seat in

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years and 29 in leap years, with the February 29, 29th day being called the ''leap day''. February is the third a ...

, and was re-elected in October 1974. He was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Denis Healey Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he remains the lo ...

in his role as

Defence Secretary A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

from 1967 to 1970. In 1974, Williams was again appointed as a PPS to the

Roy Mason Roy Mason, Baron Mason of Barnsley, (18 April 1924 – 19 April 2015), was a British Labour Party politician and Cabinet minister who was Secretary of State for Defence and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the 1970s. Early life Ma ...

, Defence Secretary, remaining in the role when Mason was appointed

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland The secretary of state for Northern Ireland (; ), also referred to as Northern Ireland Secretary or SoSNI, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office. The offi ...

. In 1979, Williams again lost his seat to the Conservatives, this time to Robin Squire, and he has not returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

since.

After Parliament

In 1979, he was appointed Director-General of the English Speaking Union. In the 1980s, he joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

and became Chairman of the SDP's Defence Committee for four years, later rejoining the Labour Party. He was a long serving member of the

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973, principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

and served on the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

's Advisory Board on Arms Control, and on the

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

's Advisory Board on Public Records. Williams first served with the

European Movement The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History Initially the Euro ...

as Deputy Director from 1970 until 1972, and as Director of the British Atlantic Committee between 1972 and 1974. From 1972 to 1973, he was Director of the Labour Committee for Europe. During this time he was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for services to Europe. In 1978, he was Chairman of Peace through NATO, during the question over the Pershing Cruise Missile Deployment. In 1986 he became Director of the Atlantic Council of the United Kingdom, a member of the

. He served in this capacity until 2007. He was elected President of the Atlantic Treaty Association in 2000, serving until 2003, and from 2007 held the title of Honorary Vice-President for Life at the Atlantic Council. In 1986, he was made Warden and Chief Executive of

Toynbee Hall Toynbee Hall is a charitable institution that works to address the causes and impacts of poverty in the East End of London and elsewhere. Established in 1884, it is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affili ...

, the university settlement. He is Chairman of a number of major charities, including the Transport on Water Association and the Sir William Beveridge Foundation. Williams has written and contributed to several books and articles, including ''A Radical Future'' (1966), ''Europe and the Open Sea'' (1966), ''Crisis in European Defence'' (1979), and other works on defence with his brother, Professor Geoffrey Lee Williams.

References

Bibliography

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979'' *

External links

*
Interviewed on ANN TV 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Alan Lee 1930 births Living people People educated at the John Roan School Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Fabian Society Councillors in Greater London UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 Officers of the Order of the British Empire Academics of Queen Mary University of London Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians