Beddoe Rees - MP For Bristol South

MP For Bristol South

After the disappointment of Cannock, Rees found a political home in Bristol. Despite being opposed by a coalition candidate in Cannock, Rees was a natural supporter of the Lloyd George coalition. He was typical of the backbench Coalition Liberals of the period, many of whom were wealthy industrialists. On the backbenches the party was strongest in terms of bank balances rather than political expertise. His wealth, his position in industry, his fierce anti-socialism, all commended him to Conservatives as his nonconformity, his interest in Welsh national movements and his support for free trade made him attractive to Liberals. Bristol was a coalition stronghold, all five seats in the city being represented at the 1918 general election by parties and candidates supporting the coalition. The sitting Liberal MP for Bristol South, Sir William Howell Davies, who had represented the constituency since 1906, was retiring and Rees was selected to replace him. Despite the fall of the Lloyd George coalition following the vote of the Conservative Party at the Carlton Club, the Tories were reluctant to break the electoral arrangements in Bristol which ensured straight fights in all the seats against Labour to the benefit of their candidates and the Conservatives did not oppose Rees in his contest with D J Vaughan, the Labour man. Thus Rees was elected to Parliament at the 1922 general election with a majority of 3,459 votes.

Rees waited some months before making his maiden speech and chose a debate about miners’ wages in which to make his first contribution. According to The Times newspaper it was an ‘excellent maiden speech’. In the speech Rees opposed the Bill designed to establish a minimum wage for coal miners, arguing that its real outcome would be to create a great combine of mineworkers with an organisation capable of holding the country to ransom.