Friday, July 04, 2025
Brecon and Radnor forty years on
As the Journal of Liberal History recants, the by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Conservative MP Tom Hooson (a cousin of the former Liberal MP for Montgomery Emlyn Hooson:
The Conservatives held the seat with a majority of over 10,000, however the government encountered problems and the election developed into a three way contest with Labour, which had held the seat before 1979, fighting hard to win it back. When the result was declared after a recount, Livsey emerged as the victor by 559 votes over Labour with the Tories slipping to third place. Livsey remained an MP (apart from 1992-97 when the Tories recaptured the seat) until he retired in 2001.
The BBC report that Labour might well have won the by-election, had it not been for a speech two nights before the poll in which the miners' leader, Arthur Scargill, demanded the right to choose the next chairman of the National Coal Board.
They add that the reminder of the only recently ended miners' strike, along with tactical voting by Conservatives, were enough to put Mr Livsey over the top with a slim majority of just over 500 votes.
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Forty years ago? It can't be, can it? I was there, and it seems like it was just last week. I remember talking Andy Ellis just after the polls closed, in the bar of a big hotel in Brecon (I don't think he was by then the CEO of the Liberal Party) and I asked him what he thought the result would be, and he reckoned that we had won by 400 votes - not a bad call! The next day (when the votes were counted) I stood outside the Town Hall (?) waiting for the result with John Holmes (Chief Agent for the Liberal Party) and Ian Stuart (Home Counties Organiser for the Liberals) who were both close to tears when the result was declared. Incidentally, credit is also due to Screaming Lord Sutch (MRLP) who appeared on the balcony at regular intervals to give a completely (and obviously) misleading commentary on how the count was progressing - his humour did a lot to reduce tensions in the crowd. It was very hot, and tempers were fraying. Afterwards, I saw some of the Labour Party marching away, in formation, under a red banner. Even then, it was like something out of a different age.
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