Alan Williams

Alan John Williams (born 14 October 1930) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Swansea West from 1964 to 2010.

Early life

Williams was educated at Cardiff High School for Boys (a state grammar school) then Cardiff College of Technology and Commerce when he gained a BSc in economics in 1954 (awarded by the University of London). At University College, Oxford he studied PPE. He became an economics lecturer at the Welsh College of Advanced Technology then a broadcaster and journalist.

Parliamentary career

He contested Poole in 1959.

Williams served under Harold Wilson as Under-Secretary of State for Economic Affairs from 1967 until 1969 and then as a Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Technology until 1970 when Labour lost power. When Labour were returned to power at the February 1974 general election, Williams was made Minister of State at the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection, serving until Wilson left office in 1976. The new Prime Minister, James Callaghan, then appointed him as Minister of State at the Department of Industry in which post he served until Labour lost power to the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher in the 1979 general election.

Williams was made a Privy Counsellor in 1977. He was a backbencher from 1989 to 2010, and chair of the Liaison Committee from 2001 to 2010.^[1] He is a Eurosceptic and was opposed to the devolution settlement that established the National Assembly for Wales.

Father of the House

Following the retirement of Tam Dalyell at the 2005 general election, Williams became the MP with the longest continuous service in the House, earning him the title of Father of the House.^[2]

Williams was the last parliamentary survivor of those who were elected in Harold Wilson's 1964 election win. As Father of the House, Williams presided over the Commons Speaker election on 22 June 2009. He stood down from the Commons at the 2010 general election.

Personal life

He married (Mary) Patricia Rees in June 1957 in Bedwellty. They have two sons and a daughter, Sian.^[3]

References

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Alan Williams MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Alan Williams MP
• Ministerial posts
• BBC Politics

News items

• Becomes Father of the House in 2005
• Remembrance service in October 2001

Offices Held

v t e Fathers of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Fagg Turgis Musgrave Strangeways Onslow Erle Vaughan Vaughan Powlett Isham Turner Bradshaigh Ashe Cartwright Shuttleworth Gybbon Rushout Aislabie FitzRoy-Scudamore Nugent Frederick Ellis Drake Stephens Tudway Aubrey Smith Byng Williams-Wynn Harcourt Burrell Lowther Williams Lowry-Corry Weld-Forester Talbot Villiers Mowbray Beach Hicks Beach Finch Campbell-Bannerman Kennaway Burt O'Connor Lloyd George Turnour O'Neill Grenfell Churchill Butler Turton Strauss Parker Callaghan Braine Heath Dalyell Williams Tapsell