Frank Byers, Baron Byers

Charles Frank Byers, Baron Byers PC OBE DL (born July 24, 1915 in Liverpool , Lancashire , † February 6, 1984 in London ) was a British Liberal Party politician who was a member of the House of Commons for five years and was named Life in 1964 Peer became a member of the House of Lords under the Life Peerages Act 1958 . Byers, who two years Executive Chairman ( Chairman ) was the Liberal Party, served for seventeen years from 1967 until his death as chairman of the faction of the Liberal Party in the upper house ( Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords ).

Life

Studies and officer in World War II

Byers graduated after attending the Westminster School to study at Christ Church of University of Oxford , which he with a Bachelor in Philosophy, Politics and Economics graduated. During his studies he was chairman of the Liberal Students' Union at Oxford University and during this time also studied abroad at the Milton Academy in Massachusetts .

After completing his law studies , he was admitted to the bar ( Inns of Court ) of Gray's Inn , but did not work as a lawyer, but instead began his military service at the beginning of the Second World War . In the following years he served in the Royal Regiment of Artillery and was last promoted to captain with the temporary use in the rank of major ( Temporary Major ). Because of his military achievements and bravery in combat missions in the Middle East , he was mentioned three times in the war report ( Mentioned in Despatches ) and was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of the British Empire on January 6, 1944 . In addition, he received the Knight's Cross of the Legion of Honor and the Croix de guerre . He was later promoted to lieutenant colonel .

Member of the House of Commons and House of Lords

In the general election of July 5, 1945 Byers was elected for the Liberal Party in the House of Commons and represented in this until his defeat in the general election on February 23, 1950, the constituency of Dorset North . During this time he acted as the successor of Tom Horabin from 1946 until his replacement by Joseph Grimond in 1950 as Parliamentary Executive Director (Chief Whip ) of the parliamentary group of the Liberal Party in the lower house. He was also chairman of the Liberal Central Association between 1946 and 1963.

After leaving the House of Commons, Byers was the successor to Patrick Moynihan between 1950 and his replacement by Philip Fothergill in 1952, the executive chairman of the Liberal Party ( Chairman of the Liberal Party ), before he was deputy vice-president of the Liberal Party in 1954. In 1960 he ran unsuccessfully for a by-election ( by-election ) in the constituency Bolton East for the re-entry into the House of Commons.

In the early 1960s he began working as an economic manager and from 1962 to 1973 he was director of the Rio Tinto Zinc mining company .

By letters patent dated December 22, 1964, Byers was raised to the nobility due to the Life Peerages Act 1958 as a life peer with the title of Baron Byers , of Lingfield in the County of Surrey, and belonged to the House of Lords until his death as a member. During his membership in the House of Lords, he succeeded Philip Rea, 2nd Baron Rea Chairman of the Group of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords ( Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords ) in 1967 . Baron Byers, who also became Privy Councilor in 1972 and temporarily held the post of Deputy Lieutenant, held this position for seventeen years until his death. His successor was Beatrice Seear, Baroness Seear .

Web links

• Charles Byers at Hansard (English)
• Entry in Leigh Rayment Peerage
• Charles Frank Byers, Baron Byers on thepeerage.com , accessed September 11, 2016.
• Entry in the National Portrait Gallery (London)

Individual evidence

1. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36317, HMSO, London, January 4, 1944, p. 149 ( PDF , accessed October 10, 2013, English).
2. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 43506, HMSO, London, December 4, 1964, p. 10317 ( PDF , accessed October 10, 2013, English).