Peter Griffiths
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Peter Harry Steve Griffiths (Not to be confused with Peter Griffin) (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2013) was a British
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 ...
politician best known for gaining the
Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...
seat by defeating the
Shadow Foreign Secretary The shadow secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, commonly called the shadow foreign secretary, is a position within the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), UK official opposition shadow cabinet th ...
Patrick Gordon Walker Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker, Baron Gordon-Walker, (7 April 1907 – 2 December 1980) was a British Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament for nearly 30 years and twice a cabinet minister. He lost his Smethwick parliamenta ...
in the 1964 general election, against the national trend, by using anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric.


Early life

Griffiths was born in
West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...
,
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
, and attended West Bromwich Grammar School. He was educated at Leeds Teacher Training College and, after his National Service, studied for an external
London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...
economics degree and a master's degree in education at
Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
, while teaching in West Bromwich. From 1962, he was the head of Hall Green Road primary school, West Bromwich. Griffiths was elected to
Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...
County Borough Council in 1955.''Who's Who 2007'' At the 1959 election, he stood against Smethwick's sitting Member of Parliament (MP)
Patrick Gordon Walker Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker, Baron Gordon-Walker, (7 April 1907 – 2 December 1980) was a British Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament for nearly 30 years and twice a cabinet minister. He lost his Smethwick parliamenta ...
for the first time, and succeeded in reducing Gordon Walker's majority from 6,495 to 3,544. Griffiths became leader of the council's
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 ...
group in 1960, serving as a local councillor until 1963 when he resigned to stand again for the
Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...
parliamentary seat in the forthcoming
general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
.


Elected MP for Smethwick

Labour's victory in the 1964 election had been predicted, and Patrick Gordon Walker, who had been
Shadow Foreign Secretary The shadow secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, commonly called the shadow foreign secretary, is a position within the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), UK official opposition shadow cabinet th ...
for 18 months, was expected to hold on to his seat. Instead, Griffiths gained the seat for the Conservatives on a 7% swing, in a county borough that had the highest percentage of recent immigrants to England. Racial discrimination was common in the constituency and nationally; the local Labour club operated a colour bar. In what Labour Prime Minister
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...
later described as an "utterly squalid" campaign, Conservative party members were accused of having used the slogan "If you want a
nigger In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...
for a neighbour, vote Liberal or Labour".
Colin Jordan John Colin Campbell Jordan (19 June 1923 – 9 April 2009) was a British politician and a leading figure in post-war neo-Nazism in the UK. In the far-right circles of the 1960s, Jordan represented the most explicitly Nazi inclination in his ope ...
, a British Neo-Nazi and leader of the British Movement, said that members of his group had produced the initial slogan as well as spread the poster and sticker campaign; Jordan's group in the past had also campaigned on other slogans, such as: "Don't vote – a vote for Tory, Labour or Liberal is a vote for more Blacks!". Although Griffiths himself did not coin the phrase or approve its use, he declined to disown it. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' quoted Griffiths as saying: "I would not condemn any man who said that. I regard it as a manifestation of popular feeling", adding that the quote represented "exasperation, not fascism". He denied that there was any "resentment in Smethwick on the grounds of race or colour". Griffiths' defeat of Gordon Walker resulted in Harold Wilson claiming 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 ...
that Griffiths should "serve his term here as a parliamentary leper". Conservatives urged the Speaker, Harry Hylton-Foster, to force Wilson to withdraw the comment. While the Speaker objected to such language, he refused to censure the Prime Minister, and order in the Commons chamber was not restored for ten minutes. In his maiden speech in the Commons, Griffiths pointed out the problems faced by local industry and drew attention to the fact that 4,000 families were awaiting local authority accommodation.Hansard, 1964 Griffiths remained an alderman in Smethwick until 1966. He both supported and arranged for Smethwick council to purchase a row of houses with the intention of letting them exclusively to white families. The government's Housing minister, Richard Crossman, was able to block this proposal by refusing the council permission to borrow the money required. Griffiths was defeated by the actor and Labour candidate
Andrew Faulds Andrew Matthew William Faulds (1 March 1923 – 31 May 2000) was a British actor and Labour Party politician. After a successful acting career on stage, on radio and in films, he was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 1997. Early life Faul ...
in the 1966 general election. Griffiths wrote his own account of his election in 1964. In ''A Question of Colour'' (1966), he said that he had "no colour prejudice". In the book he considered South Africa to be "a model of Parliamentary democracy" and that "Apartheid, if it could be separated from racialism, could well be an alternative to integration". Griffiths also blamed immigration from the Caribbean for the spread of disease.


Later life and career

In 1967, he became a lecturer in economics at Portsmouth College of Technology. After a year as an exchange professor in California, he returned to what became Portsmouth Polytechnic, until he returned to Parliament. Griffiths unsuccessfully stood for Portsmouth North constituency at the February 1974 general election, but was elected for the seat at the 1979 general election. He held the constituency until the Labour landslide at the 1997 election, when he was defeated.


Personal life and death

He was married to Jeannette (née Rubery); the couple had a son and daughter. Griffiths died on 20 November 2013, aged 85.


References


Bibliography

* *Pearce, R. (2004)
Walker, Patrick Chrestien Gordon, Baron Gordon-Walker (1907–1980)
, ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...
'', Oxford University Press, accessed 26 Aug 2007 (subscription required) * * *'' Who's Who 2007'',
Griffiths, Peter Harry Steve
, accessed 26 August 2007 (subscription required)


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Peter 1928 births 2013 deaths Academics of the University of Portsmouth Alumni of the University of London Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in the West Midlands (county) UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Race relations in the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) councillors People educated at West Bromwich Grammar School