David Penhaligon - Lib-Lab Pact

Lib-Lab Pact

When the Lib-Lab pact was first mooted in March 1977, Penhaligon was initially opposed and spoke against it. He later came round and told the Liberal Assembly in September 1977 that it had achieved an 'economic revolution'. At a special Assembly in January 1978 he was a star speaker in persuading the delegates representing Liberal members to continue the pact. The pact allowed the Liberals to influence government legislation and Penhaligon objected to proposals from Tony Benn for an Electricity Industry Bill which would centralise control, which single-handedly prevented any progress.

Part of Penhaligon's support for the Lib-Lab pact was his fear that an early general election would result in a poor performance for the Liberals, and his own seat may be vulnerable. In October 1978 after the pact had lapsed, he explained that "Turkeys don't volunteer for Christmas!". The scandal over former party leader Jeremy Thorpe, who was charged with conspiracy to murder in August 1978, was a matter of particular concern and Penhaligon urged Thorpe to stand down and the Liberal Party not to endorse him. When Thorpe did seek re-election, Penhaligon refused to help his campaign.

Despite his narrow majority and the belief that he was the most vulnerable of the Liberal MPs, Penhaligon kept his seat with a much larger majority (8,708) in the 1979 general election. Against the Conservative government, he strongly opposed nuclear power. Against the majority of Liberal Party members he strongly supported NATO and nuclear weapons, describing a separate European non-nuclear defence as 'akin to a behaving like a virgin in a brothel', although he supported demands for 'dual key control' of United States cruise missiles based in Britain.