Megan Lloyd George
Lady Megan Lloyd George, CH (22 April 1902 – 14 May 1966) was a Welsh politician, the first female Member of Parliament (MP) for a Welsh constituency, and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. She later became a Labour MP.
Background
She was the youngest child of David Lloyd George and his wife, Margaret, being born in 1902 in Criccieth, Caernarfonshire (present-day Gwynedd). Her name at birth was registered as "Megan Arvon George", but was known as "Megan Lloyd George". After her father was raised to the Peerage as Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor, she became known as "Lady Megan Lloyd George".
Liberal party
Like her brother, Gwilym, she followed her father into politics. She became the first female MP in Wales when she won Anglesey for the Liberals in 1929.
Along with her father, she refused to support Ramsay MacDonald's National Government in 1931 and successfully held Anglesey as an Independent Liberal at the 1931 General Election. She held the seat again as a Liberal from 1935 to 1951.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s she campaigned for a Welsh Parliament and the creation of a Secretary of State for Wales. Prominent among the radicals in the Liberal Party, she opposed what she saw as the party's drift away from her father's brand of liberalism. In 1949 she was named Deputy Leader of the party in a bid to create unity, but after losing her seat she stood down in 1952.
Labour party
In 1955 she defected to the Labour party. In 1957 she stood against the Liberals as the Labour Party candidate in a by-election in Carmarthen and won the seat from them, which she held until her death from breast cancer in Pwllheli in 1966, aged 64. She was named a Companion of Honour posthumously in the dissolution honours published five days after her death.
She was Baron Noel-Baker's romantic partner from 1936 until Noel-Baker's wife's death in 1956.[1]
Further reading
- Jones, J. Graham, entry in Dictionary of Liberal Biography Brack et al. (eds.) Politico's Publishing, 1998
- Jones, J. Graham, 'A breach in the family: the defection from the Liberal Party of Megan and Gwilym Lloyd George'
- Jones, Mervyn. A Radical Life: The Biography of Megan Lloyd George, 1902-66. London: Hutchinson, 1991. ISBN 0-09-174829-1
- Price, Emyr Megan Lloyd George; Gwynedd Archives Service, 1983
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Megan Lloyd George
- Archival material relating to Megan Lloyd George listed at the UK National Archives
References
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Robert Thomas |
Member of Parliament for Anglesey 1929 – 1951 |
Succeeded by Cledwyn Hughes |
| Preceded by Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris |
Member of Parliament for Carmarthen 1957 – 1966 |
Succeeded by Gwynfor Evans |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Post vacant Previous incumbent: Percy Harris |
Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party 1949 – 1951 |
Succeeded by Post vacant Next incumbent: Donald Wade |
|