David John Delwyn Williams (1 November 1938 – 21 August 2024) was a British Conservative Party politician and solicitor.

Early life

Williams was born in

Forden Forden () is a village near Welshpool in Powys, Wales, formerly in the historic county of Montgomeryshire. It forms part of the community (and community council) of Forden with Leighton and Trelystan with the neighbouring settlements of Trelyst ...

, Montgomeryshire. He was educated at Welshpool High School and the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

, where he obtained an LL.B. degree. He subsequently qualified as a solicitor, working in Forden and

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

Political career

Williams was elected to the Montgomeryshire County Council. He unsuccessfully fought the

1970 United Kingdom general election The 1970 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 18 June 1970. It resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, which defeated the governing Labour Party under Prime Minister Harold Wilson. T ...

, and the February 1974 elections, the latter at

Cardiganshire Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Ab ...

. He was elected member of parliament for the traditionally Liberal seat of

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire ( ) was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery, which in turn was named after ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, ousting

Emlyn Hooson Hugh Emlyn Hooson, Baron Hooson, (26 March 1925 – 21 February 2012) was a Welsh Liberal and then Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Montgomeryshire from 1962 until 1979. Early life Hooson was born at Colom ...

by a majority of 1,593 votes. He lost the seat by 668 votes after one term to the Liberal

Alex Carlile Alexander Charles Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew, (born 12 February 1948) is a British barrister and crossbench member of the House of Lords. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Montgomeryshire from 1983 to 1997 under the banner of the ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. He was on the right-wing of the party, and a strong supporter of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

. After leaving parliament, he continued to work as a solicitor. He stood in a by-election to

Powys County Council Powys County Council () is the local authority for Powys, one of the 22 principal areas of Wales. The council is based at County Hall in Llandrindod Wells. History The county of Powys was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act ...

in 2007 in the Welshpool, Gungrog ward as an Independent but came third behind the Liberal Democrat candidate and another Independent. In the campaign for the 2015 General Election he publicly declared his support for the

United Kingdom Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

, citing in at least one newspaper letter dissatisfaction with the Prime Ministerial record of

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

, and objection to proposals by the Conservatives to extend tax raising powers to the

Welsh Assembly The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

.Letter published for benefit of former Conservative supporters. In September 2016 he criticised Wales Boundary Commission proposals that would partition the present Montgomeryshire UK Parliament constituency between three neighbouring seats, claiming it would "create a bureaucratic nightmare" of three MPs representing the existing shire county area. He suggested instead the whole seat be amalgamated with the neighbouring Brecon and Radnorshire on grounds of their common administration under Powys County Council.

Personal life and death

Williams married Olive Jerman in 1963, and they had two children. As of 2015, Williams lived in

Guilsfield Guilsfield (, "Apiaceae, Hemlock-field") is a village and community (Wales), community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. It lies beside Guilsfield Brook about three miles north of Welshpool. It is located on the B4392 road and a disused b ...

, Montgomeryshire. He died on 21 August 2024, at the age of 85.

References

External links

* * Times Guide to the House of Commons 1983 {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Delwyn 1938 births 2024 deaths 20th-century Welsh lawyers 20th-century Welsh politicians Alumni of Aberystwyth University Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies People from Montgomeryshire UK Independence Party people UK MPs 1979–1983 Welsh solicitors