Geraint Howells - Parliamentary Career

Parliamentary Career

Lord Howells was selected as the parliamentary candidate for Brecon and Radnor in 1968. He was the first Liberal to contest the seat in the post war period. He came third with 18.9 per cent of the vote. During this period Howells became one of the central players in the Welsh Liberal Party.

In 1972 Lord Howells was selected as the parliamentary candidate for Cardiganshire, a seat with a longstanding Liberal tradition. It had been held by the Liberal MP, Roderic Bowen, until his defeat by Labour's Elystan Morgan in 1966. In the February 1974 general election Howells defeated Morgan and retained the constituency in several different forms until 1992. Thus he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardigan (1974–1983) and Ceredigion and Pembroke North (1983–1992) after boundary changes. Howells was the Liberal Party's spokesman on Welsh Affairs (1979–1987) and agriculture (1987–92). His Westminster secretary and agent was Judi Lewis (Welsh Liberal Democrat chief executive 1992-1997) whilst one of his researchers was Mark Williams who would later win the seat for the Liberal Democrats in 2005. In 1992 Howells unexpectedly lost his seat to Plaid Cymru (which moved from fourth place to first) and was made a life peer as Baron Geraint, of Ponterwyd in the County of Dyfed. Howells was a close friend of both Richard Livsey and Emlyn Hooson, both of whom he served with at Westminster in the House of Common and the House of Lords.

Howells was a passionate pro-devolutionist. He played a lead role in the 1979 devolution campaign in Wales. He was also able to get the Farmers Union of Wales (FUW) recognition as one of the official unions for government negotiations during the Lib-Lab pact on the 1970s.