George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy

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Thomas George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy (born January 29, 1909 in Port Talbot ( Wales ), † September 22, 1997 in Cardiff ) was a British politician of the Labor Party and speaker of the House of Commons .

Family and career

The son of a Welsh miner from Carmarthen , unlike his four siblings, was able to attend school beyond the age of 13. After attending school, he first worked as an assistant teacher and then completed a two-year teacher training course at the University of Southampton . He then worked as a teacher in London and Cardiff .

Political career

MP and Secretary of State for Wales

Thomas began his political career in the successful election of Clement Attlee for the Labor Party in 1945 with the election to the House of Commons. There he initially represented the interests of the Cardiff Central constituency . After the dissolution of this constituency he was from 1950 to 1983 MP for the newly created Cardiff West constituency. In 1964 he was first junior minister in the Home Office in Harold Wilson's cabinet .

He first achieved national fame on October 21, 1966 when he was junior minister in the State Secretariat for Wales (Welsh Office) and was one of the first politicians to visit the site of the Aberfan mine disaster , in which 144 people, including 128 children, perished. In particular, Thomas initiated the establishment of a donation fund at that time.

From April 5, 1968 to June 20, 1970 he was himself State Secretary for Wales and thus head of the Welsh Office. As such, he presided over the installation of Charles as Prince of Wales on July 1, 1969 at Caernarfon Castle .

Speaker of Parliament and member of the House of Lords

In 1976 he was elected to succeed Selwyn Lloyd as Speaker of the House of Commons. During his tenure in 1978, the first radio broadcast of a parliamentary debate took place. In 1983 he renounced another election to the House of Commons and was then replaced as Speaker of the House of Commons by Bernard Weatherill .

Then he was appointed as Viscount Tonypandy raised as one of the last people in the hereditary nobility and thus also a member of the upper house ( House of Lords ). As such, he opposed Welsh nationalism despite his origins and remained politically interested until his death. Most recently in 1997 he opposed the decentralization promised by Tony Blair . Also in 1997 he gave widely acclaimed public approval for the founding of the Eurosceptic "Referendum Party" of billionaire Sir James Goldsmith .

After his death, controversy erupted after former long-time Labor MP for Cardiff North , Leo Abse , claimed in a book that Thomas was homosexual and blackmailed for his sexual tendencies .

Publications

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Thomas, George, 1st Viscount Tonypandy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thomas, Thomas George
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Labor politician, Member of the House of Commons and Speaker of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Port Talbot , Wales
DATE OF DEATH September 22, 1997
Place of death Cardiff