Reginald Maudling (7 March 1917 - 14 February 1979) was a British
politician known for his intellectual brilliance, political pragmatism, and easygoing nature
but slightly dogged by a reputation for laziness.
Early life
Reginald Maudling was born in North Finchley and was named after his father, Reginald George Maudling, who ran the Commercial
Calculating Company Ltd which made calculating machines. His early years were spent in Bexhill when the family moved to escape German air raids; he won a scholarship to attend the
Merchant Taylors' School and Merton College, Oxford. At Oxford, Maudling stayed
out of undergraduate politics and concentrated on developing a personal philosophy of
pragmatism and opposition to ideology. He worked hard, and obtained his degree in
Classics with first class honours.
Political career
Shortly after graduating he had formed the idea of going into politics. He set up a meeting with Harold Nicolson to discuss whether it would be better, as a moderate conservative by nature, to join the
Conservative Party or National
Labour; Nicolson advised him to wait. Maudling identified being a lawyer as a career, and was called to the
Bar by the Middle Temple in 1940. However he did
not practise as a barrister due to World War II, having
volunteered for service in the Royal Air Force. Poor eyesight led him to the RAF
intelligence branch where he rose to the rank of Flight Lieutenant before switching to become Private Secretary to the
Secretary of State for Air, Sir Archibald Sinclair. It was his experience helping Sinclair that led Maudling
to confirm his decision to become active in politics.
Failed to win seats
Maudling had decided to join the Conservative Party. As the war ended, he was
adopted as parliamentary candidate for Heston and Isleworth, a
newly created constituency in West London. In
the subsequent Labour landslide election of 1945, Maudling was one of many Conservative candidates who failed to
win seats thought to have been safe. However his defeat did not deter him from a career in politics.
After their defeat in the 1945 general election, the Conservative Party engaged in an extensive rethink of its policy.
Maudling, unemployed after giving up his civil service post, was recruited to play an
important role as Head of Economics at the Conservative Research
Department. He also acted as a personal adviser to Winston Churchill on
economic issues. He persuaded the party to accept many of the Labour government's nationalisation programme and social services while cutting government spending. In March 1946 Maudling
was adopted as the prospective candidate for Barnet, close to his birthplace in
north London. Labour had unexpectedly won the seat in 1945, but it was considered to
be marginal. In 1950 he was elected as Member of Parliament with a majority of
10,534.
Member of Parliament and Cabinet
Following the 1951 election, Churchill made Maudling a junior
Minister at the Ministry of Civil Aviation. However, his experience of preparing economic policy led to his speaking on behalf of
the Treasury on the 1952 budget and thus to an appointment, later that year, as Economic
Secretary to the Treasury. With his mentor Rab Butler as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Maudling worked to reduce taxes and controls in order to move
from post-war austerity to affluence. He endorsed Butler's great vision of a doubling of incomes within 25 years. Maudling was
also a natural performer on television, which was to prove a great asset in his later career.
When Anthony Eden took over as Prime Minister in 1955, Maudling was promoted to head a
department as Minister of Supply. He supported the invasion of Suez. The Ministry was responsible for aircraft production and supplying the armed forces, and
Maudling came to agree with critics who argued that it was an unnecessary intermediary; he therefore recommended its abolition.
Although supportive of Harold Macmillan's appointment as Prime Minister over the rival
claims of Butler in 1957, Maudling found himself in difficulties over his position in the new government. He refused to continue
at the Ministry of Supply and also rejected an offer of the Ministry of Health because Iain
Macleod, with whom he had a rivalry, had held the post five years earlier and Maudling did not want to be seen as five
years behind him.
Macmillan thought Maudling clever but also vain and somewhat lazy. He appointed him to the near sinecure post of
Paymaster General and spokesman in the House of Commons for the Ministry of Fuel and Power, which was technically a demotion. Nine
months later, Maudling had proved his usefulness and Macmillan brought him into the Cabinet
(September 17, 1957) where he acted more as a
Minister without Portfolio: he had specific responsibility for chairing the
talks to persuade the six members of the European Economic Community to join a free-trade
area with Britain. This attempt was vetoed by General de Gaulle. Meanwhile Maudling
became an underwriting member of Lloyd's of London in December 1957, although his
assets were somewhat below average for other 'names'.
President of the Board of Trade
Maudling entered the front line of politics after the 1959
election when appointed President of
the Board of Trade. He was responsible for introducing the government's proposals to help areas of high unemployment. This was achieved by paying grants to companies to create new plants in these deprived areas,
and also by the government taking over unused land for development. Maudling also succeeded in negotiating a free trade agreement
between the countries outside the Common Market, this became the European Free Trade Association and was some compensation for his failure to negotiate a
free trade area with the Common Market. Maudling was opposed to any proposal to join the Common Market, remarking "I can think of
no more retrograde step economically or politically". This remark was to be quoted against him when he was part of later
governments applying for Common Market membership.
Reginald Maudling was for a short time, as Secretary of State for the
Colonies in 1961, responsible for the process of decolonisation. In this position he chaired constitutional conferences
for Jamaica, Northern Rhodesia and Trinidad and Tobago which prepared them up for independence; his plan for Northern Rhodesia was
controversial and he had to threaten resignation before it was approved. However Maudling was keen to return to economic policy,
and seized his opportunity when Macmillan made it clear in private that he supported a voluntary incomes policy. Maudling promptly made a persuasive case in public, and three weeks later was appointed
Chancellor of the Exchequer in Macmillan's "Night of the Long Knives" attempt to rejuvenate his Cabinet.
Chancellor of the Exchequer
As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Maudling soon cut Purchase tax and bank
interest rates. His 1963 budget aimed at "expansion without
inflation". Following a period of economic difficulty, with a growth target of 4%. Maudling was able to remove income tax from owner occupiers' residential premises. He also abolished the rate of duty on home-brewed
beer which in effect legalised it. This was the period in which Maudling was at his
most popular within the Conservative Party and in the country.
However, later commentators have been less kind to Maudling - Harold Wilson and his
Chancellor Jim Callaghan blamed the dash for growth that followed the 1963 budget
for increasing Sterling's chronic instability between 1964 and 1967 and by greatly increasing domestic demand the budget
certainly exacerbated the existing balance of payments problem. Maudling largely
recognised this himself by the time of the 1964 budget and although he increased taxes then he did little to subdue demand in an
election year.
The BBC election programme announces Maudling's safe return at Barnet in 1964
By 1963 Maudling was being considered as a possible future Prime Minister after Macmillan. However, Macmillan's sudden illness
and announcement of his resignation in October 1963 came at a time when Maudling was considered too junior. He had also performed
disappointingly at the Conservative Party conference, which had become a hustings for the leadership. He retained his post as
Chancellor under the new prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home, and in the 1964 election Maudling had a prominent role at the helm of the party's daily press
conferences while Douglas-Home toured the country.
Maudling was praised for conveying a calm and relaxed image, but was unable to prevent the party's narrow defeat. On the
BBC's election results programme, the journalist Anthony Howard said that he believed that if Maudling had been leader, the narrow
Conservative defeat would have been a narrow Conservative victory.
Failed leadership bid
Out of office, Maudling felt the loss of his Chancellor's salary keenly. He accepted the offer of a seat on the board of
Kleinwort Benson in November 1964, one of the factors which led to his being shifted to
spokesman on Foreign Affairs in early 1965. Unlike other potential leadership contenders, Maudling publicly maintained his
loyalty to Douglas-Home as criticisms of his leadership mounted. When Douglas-Home resigned, after putting in place a system in
which the leadership was directly elected, Maudling fought against Edward Heath for the
position of candidate to the party centre-right. Unfortunately, for Maudling, Enoch Powell
also stood as a candidate supporting monetarist and proto-Thatcherite economics.
Maudling's business directorships with Kleinwort Benson and others were mentioned by his opponents as evidence of his lack of
commitment for the role, and he was felt to be too close to the Macmillan/Douglas-Home style of politics when the Conservative
Party needed a fresh start. He won 133 votes against Heath's 150; Powell's 15 votes would have been more likely to go to Maudling
had Powell not stood. The defeat was a surprise to Maudling, as the Conservative Parliamentary Party was felt to be more in tune
with his policies than with those of Heath (although feeling in the country and in most newspapers favoured the election of
Heath).
Deputy Leader and Home Secretary
Maudling served as Deputy Leader under Heath, and was also a prominent member of the Shadow
Cabinet. However, he was neither close to Edward Heath personally or politically, and as a consequence his influence
declined; his support for an incomes policy now went against party policy. He also tended to make gaffes, as for example when he
said Harold Wilson had been following the same policy as the Conservatives on
Rhodesia and "I can't think of anything he has done wrongly". When the Conservatives returned
to power in 1970, Maudling was appointed Home Secretary; the most pressing problem at the
Home Office was tackling the Troubles in Northern
Ireland. Maudling did not enjoy this responsibility. After boarding the aeroplane at the end of his first visit to the
province, he remarked "For God's sake bring me a large Scotch. What a bloody awful
country."
Maudling's tendency to exude reassuring calmness in interviews, normally helpful to him, was damaging when he referred to
reducing IRA violence to "an acceptable level", a remark widely
regarded as a gaffe. He also tended to trust the Unionist controlled Government of Northern
Ireland and gloss over differences between their approach and that of the United Kingdom government. This approach
backfired when the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
James Chichester-Clark resigned over a split in March 1971. That
August, Maudling reluctantly authorised the Northern Ireland government to introduce internment without trial for terror suspects, which caused widespread upheaval and anger among the
nationalist population due to its exclusive use on that community, and was followed by
a massive escalation in the level of violence.
Bloody Sunday
Maudling's statement in the House of Commons after Bloody Sunday agreed with the British army's claim that the
Parachute Regiment had only fired in self-defence, and so inflamed
the nationalist MP Bernadette Devlin a witness to the events who was not
called on to speak that she punched him.
Eventually Edward Heath decided to bring in direct rule of Northern Ireland under a
separate Secretary of State. Maudling's prominence within the
Heath government led to much lampooning by comedians, especially Monty Python, which
Maudling himself took in good humour. On one occasion Maudling was called upon to present a TV award from The Sun to the now-deceased Graham Chapman of the Python team; Chapman
fell to the ground on receiving the award and "crawl[ed] all the way back to his table, screaming loudly, as loudly as he could."
[1]
Regarding criminal justice matters, Maudling was mildly progressive. He made no attempt, despite his personal support, to
reintroduce capital punishment after its abolition in 1969. He introduced Community
Service, a new concept, as an alternative to prison, and in 1971 modestly tightened up the immigration rules. He was criticised
for ordering the deportation of Rudi Dutschke, later
one of the founders of the German Green Party. Dutschke, who was in Britain to
recuperate from an assassination attempt, was considered a student anarchist.
Scandal
In 1972 Maudling's business activities were causing considerable disquiet and speculation in the press. He had obtained in
1966 a directorship in the company of John Poulson, an architect for whom Maudling helped obtain some lucrative contracts. Poulson routinely did business through
bribery and in 1972 was made bankrupt. The bankruptcy
hearings disclosed his bribe payments, and Maudling's connection became public knowledge. Maudling came to the decision that his
responsibility for the Metropolitan Police, which was beginning
fraud investigations into Poulson, made his position as Home secretary untenable. He resigned on
July 18, to general sympathy from the press. Shortly after receiving Maudling's resignation
Edward Heath's government performed a 'U-turn' on economic policy and subsequently adopted an approach strikingly similar to
Maudling's.
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Heath advised Maudling not to drop out of the public eye and he continued to make many media appearances. On the Conservative
Party's electoral defeat in 1974, Edward Heath was replaced as leader by Margaret Thatcher. She surprised many by appointing Maudling to the post of Shadow Foreign Secretary.
However, Maudling failed to make an impact in his new role and clashed with Mrs. Thatcher over economics. He was dismissed on
November 19, 1976. Maudling then openly attacked the
Monetarist economic theory which she had adopted.
Last years
Maudling's business interests were to return and haunt his final years. He had in 1969 been President of the Real Estate Fund
of America, whose Chief Executive had been imprisoned for fraud; Maudling had also been an adviser to the Peachey Property
Corporation, whose Chairman Sir Eric Miller had embezzled company money and later committed suicide. In addition Maudling
was disclosed to have lobbied for more aid to Malta after obtaining a commission for Poulson there
which had led to heavy losses to the Maltese government. These further revelations led to a Parliamentary inquiry into the
conduct of Maudling and two other MPs linked to Poulson. This inquiry published its report on July
14, 1977; the report concluded that Maudling had indulged in "conduct inconsistent with the
standards which the House is entitled to expect from its members".
When the report was considered by the House of Commons, the Conservative Party organised its MPs to attend the debate to 'Save
Reggie'. An amendment was put down to merely 'take note' of the report, instead of endorsing it, and carried by 230 votes (211
Conservatives, 17 Labour, 2 Liberals and 2 Ulster Unionists) to 207. No punishment was imposed. An attempt by back-bench Labour
MPs to expel Maudling from the House was defeated by 331 votes to 11, and a move to suspend him for six months was lost by 324 to
97.
As Lewis Baston's 2004 biography recounts, Maudling (and his wife) became heavy drinkers once his political career - which
once, realistically, could have ended in the office of Prime Minister - was effectively ended by the scandal. The drinking turned
to alcoholism and Maudling's health rapidly deteriorated in the late 1970s.
Death
Maudling's intention to continue his political career was hindered by his chronic alcoholism which became an increasing problem in the late 1970s. His health was damaged and he lacked the
motivation to overcome his problems. In early 1979 he collapsed and there were fears his treatment would be hindered by the
strikes in the 'Winter of Discontent'. He died on February 14 of cirrhosis of the liver and
kidney failure in the Royal Free Hospital at the age
of 61. Maudling had married the actress Beryl Laverick six days after the outbreak of World War II in 1939; they had three sons
and a daughter.
Popular Culture
Maudling's naughty bits are referenced in Episode 22 of Monty Python's Flying
Circus.[1] His name was frequently mentioned in
other sketches as well. One of the survivors in the Lifeboat sketch was named Maudling, as was one of the dogs from the London
police station referenced in the Tudor Jobs/Sir Philip Sydney sketch. Maudling's name is used in the Blow on the Head sketch as
one of the responses when the contestant is asked what penguins eat. It is accepted as a correct answer.
References
- Lewis Baston (2004) Reggie: The Life of Reginald Maudling. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-2924-3
- Michael Gillard (1974) A little pot of money. The story of Reginald Maudling and the Real Estate Fund of America.
Private Eye productions / André Deutsch. ISBN 0-233-96444-4
- Michael Gillard (1980) Nothing to declare: the political corruptions of John Poulson. John Calder. ISBN
0-7145-3625-3
- Reginald Maudling (1978) Memoirs. Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 0-283-98446-5
- Robert Shepherd (2004) "Reginald Maudling" in Oxford Dictionary of
National Biography, Oxford University Press.
External links
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