Geraint Wyn Howells, Baron Geraint (15 April 1925 – 17 April 2004) was a Welsh politician of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

and its successor, the Liberal Democrats. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardigan from 1974 to 1983 and

Ceredigion and Pembroke North Ceredigion and Pembroke North was a county constituency in southwestern Wales which elected one MP via the first past the post electoral system. It was located in the preserved county of Dyfed. Boundaries The constituency had the same boundar ...

from 1983 to 1992.

Early life and education

Howells was born in

Ponterwyd Ponterwyd () is a village in Ceredigion, Wales. It lies in the Cambrian Mountains of Mid Wales, approximately east of Aberystwyth on the A44 road. History At the village's heart lies (English: ''The Old Bridge''), a steep single-arch late 1 ...

, Cardiganshire, in 1925. He was the son of David John and Mary Blodwen Howells, both farmers. He was educated at Ponterwyd Primary School and Ardwyn Grammar School,

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

Pre-parliamentary career

Howells' main living was as a hill farmer in Glennydd, Ponterwyd in Ceredgion. He held some 750 acres there with around 3,000 sheep. The majority were prize winning Speckled Faces. Howells was also a champion

sheep shearer A sheep shearer is a worker who uses (hand-powered)-blade or machine shears to remove wool from domestic sheep during crutching or shearing. History During the early years of sheep breeding in Australia, shearing was carried out by shepherds, as ...

. He held senior positions in the

British Wool Marketing Board The British Wool Marketing Board (also now known as British Wool) operates the central marketing system for UK fleece wool. A farmer-run organisation, British Wool was established in 1950 with the aim of achieving the best possible net return f ...

and was also chairman of the Wool Producers of Wales, 1977–1983. Politically, Howells was elected to

Cardiganshire County Council Cardiganshire County Council was the local government authority for the county of Cardiganshire, Wales, between 1889 and 1974. It was superseded by Dyfed County Council. Overview The administrative county of Cardigan and its local authority, the ...

as an Independent in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

, defeating the sitting member by twelve votes. At this time it was normal practice in Welsh rural counties for Liberal members to stand as independents. However, in 1958 he was briefly appointed as agent for the prospective Labour candidate for Cardiganshire, Loti Rees Hughes.

Parliamentary career

Howells was selected as the parliamentary candidate for Brecon and Radnor in 1968. He was the first Liberal to contest the seat in the post-war period. He came third with 18.9 per cent of the vote. During this period Howells became one of the central players in the

Welsh Liberal Party The Welsh Liberal Party was the section of the Liberal Party operating in Wales. From the 1860s until the First World War, a close relationship developed between particular issues relevant to Welsh politics and the Liberal Party. These included la ...

. In 1972 Howells was selected as the parliamentary candidate for Cardiganshire, a seat with a longstanding Liberal tradition. It had been held by the Liberal MP,

Roderic Bowen Evan Roderic Bowen QC (6 August 1913 – 18 July 2001) was a Welsh lawyer and Liberal Party politician. Bowen was educated at Cardigan County School, University College, Aberystwyth, where he graduated LLB in 1933, and St John's College, C ...

, until his defeat by Labour's Elystan Morgan in 1966. In the February 1974 general election Howells defeated Morgan and retained the constituency in several different forms until 1992. Thus he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardigan (1974–1983) and

(1983–1992) after boundary changes. Howells was the Liberal Party's spokesman on Welsh Affairs (1979–1987) and agriculture (1987–92). His Westminster secretary and agent was Judi Lewis (Welsh Liberal Democrat chief executive 1992–1997) whilst one of his researchers was Mark Williams who would later win the seat for the Liberal Democrats in 2005. In 1992, Howells unexpectedly lost his seat to

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

(which moved from fourth place to first). Plaid Cymru had formed an alliance with the

Wales Green Party The Wales Green Party () is an autonomous section of the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) covering Wales. The Wales Green Party puts up candidates for council, Senedd, and UK Parliament seats. Since 2018, the Wales Green Party has been ...

which attracted considerable support from non-Welsh speakers in the constituency. Howells was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Geraint, of

in the County of

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales, covering the modern counties Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. It is mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed w ...

. Howells was a close friend of both

Richard Livsey Richard Arthur Lloyd Livsey, Baron Livsey of Talgarth (2 May 1935 – 16 September 2010) was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brecon and Radnorshire from 1985 to 1992, and again from 1997 t ...

and

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 ...

, both of whom he served with at Westminster in 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 ...

and the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. Howells was passionately pro-

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...

. He played a lead role in the 1979 devolution campaign in Wales. He was also able to get the Farmers Union of Wales (FUW) recognition as one of the official unions for government negotiations during the

Lib-Lab pact The Liberal–Labour movement was the practice of local Liberal Party (UK), Liberal associations accepting and supporting candidates who were financially maintained by trade unions. These candidates stood for the Parliament of the United Kingdom ...

on the 1970s.Dictionary of Liberal Biography, Politicos (1998)' p. 190

Personal life

Geraint Howells married Mary Olwen Griffiths on 7 September 1957. They had two children: Gaenor, a newsreader with the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

, born in 1961 and Mari born in 1965. Howells died in

on 17 April 2004, two days after his 79th birthday.

References

Bibliography

* *Brack, Duncan, ed Dictionary of Liberal Biography, 1998

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howells, Geraint 1925 births 2004 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies

Geraint Geraint ( ) is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical Geraint, an early 8th-century king of Dumnonia. It is also the name of a 6th-century Dumnonian saint king from Briton h ...

Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Members of Cardiganshire County Council UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 Welsh-speaking politicians People educated at Ardwyn School, Aberystwyth Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Ceredigion Sheep shearers Life peers created by Elizabeth II