Nesta Wyn Ellis

Nesta Myfanwy Wyn Ellis (November 1940^[1]-), is a journalist and author who wrote a biography on former British Prime Minister John Major. She was also a radical Welsh born British Liberal Party politician.

Background

She was educated at Llanrwst Grammar School in north Wales and Liverpool University.^[1]

Professional career

She was a journalist.^[1] Much of her early writing highlighted political issues, such as African political and human rights articles in The Guardian^[2] to the Snowdonia National Park in The Illustrated London News.^[3] She became the political correspondent for the American fashion magazine Harpers and Queen. She was a frequent contributor of articles to the UK quality newspapers such as The Times and magazines such as Punch.

Political career

Coming from north Wales, the birthplace of Lloyd George, it was not surprising that she would be attracted to the Liberal party. She was a ward secretary and Young Liberal Chairman of St. Marylebone Association from 1964-66.^[1] At the age of 26 she stood for parliament as Liberal candidate for the Spelthorne Division of Surrey at the 1966 General Election.

In 1967 she was adopted as Liberal prospective parliamentary candidate for the Folkestone and Hythe division of Kent.^[5] In 1968 she campaigned for the Liberal Party Leader to be elected by the party membership rather than just the Liberal MPs.^[6] She did not contest the Folkestone seat and instead was Liberal candidate for the Brighton Pavilion Division of Sussex at the Brighton Pavilion by-election, 1969. During the campaign, she called for the UK government to recognise the Republic of Biafra a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970.^[7]

In 1969 she published a 4 page pamphlet 'Nesta Wyn Ellis, Liberal, Says Together We Can'. Although she did not contest the 1970 General Election she remained active in the Liberal party. She was a representative of the Hampstead Liberal Association at the 1970 Liberal Assembly" speaking in debate on British foreign policy in Africa.^[8] She was Liberal candidate for the Chipping Barnet Division of Greater London at the February 1974 General Election.

In 1974 she published 'Dear Elector: The Truth about MPs' based partly on her own first hand experience as a UK Parliamentary candidate and also on interviews with politicians and their wives.^[10] She was again Liberal candidate for the Chipping Barnet Division of Greater London at the October 1974 General Election.

In 1977 she became concerned at the increase in support for the far right fascist parties in Britain, writing an article in The Times on the subject.^[11] In 1978 when the Liberal party leader David Steel proposed the Lib-Lab Pact to prop up the Labour government, Wyn Ellis, along with the likes of former party leader Jo Grimond opposed the idea.^[12] For her final public election, she stood for the first time in the part of the UK from where she came. She was Liberal candidate for the North Wales constituency at the first European Parliament elections in 1979.

In 1991 she published a biography of British Prime Minister John Major. In 2010 she published another biography of The Marquess of Bath.

Bibliography

• Nesta Wyn Ellis, Liberal, Says Together We Can [1969]
• Dear Elector: The Truth about MPs [1974]
• John Major [1991]
• The Banker's Daughter [1994]
• Britain's Top 100 Eligible Bachelors [1994]
• The Marquess of Bath [2010]

External links

• Nesta Wyn Ellis website: http://nestawynellis.com
• The battle of Brighton: http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/21st-march-1969/3/the-battle-of-brighton
• BBC cameras at 1974 Chipping Barnet count: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALkJwinbYEc

References