The Lord Thomas of Gwydir | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Thomas in 1973 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 19 June 1970 – 5 March 1974 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | George Thomas (no relation) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | John Morris | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman of the Conservative Party | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 20 June 1970 – 7 April 1972 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Anthony Barber | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | The Lord Carrington | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of theHouse of Lords | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Life peerage 7 October 1987 – 4 February 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Peter John Mitchell Thomas (1920-07-31)31 July 1920 Llanrwst, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 4 February 2008(2008-02-04) (aged 87) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Jesus College, Oxford | ||||||||||||||||||||
Peter John Mitchell Thomas, Baron Thomas of Gwydir,PC, QC (31 July 1920 – 4 February 2008) was a BritishConservative politician. He was the first Welshman to becomeChairman of the Conservative Party, serving from 1970 to 1972, and the first Conservative to serve asSecretary of State for Wales, holding that office from 1970 to 1974.
Thomas was born inLlanrwst, where his father was asolicitor.[1] He was educated at the village school, and thenEpworth College inRhyl, before reading law atJesus College, Oxford. He joined theRoyal Air Force (RAF) in 1939, on the outbreak of theSecond World War. He was shot down while serving as a bomber pilot in 1941, and spent four years in prisoner-of-war camps inGermany, moving fromStalag Luft VI toStalag Luft III and then atStalag XI-B.[2] He continued his legal studies while imprisoned, and was also an amateur actor.
He became abarrister after the war, and was called to the Bar in 1947 atMiddle Temple. He practised on theWales and Chester circuit, andtook silk in 1965.[3] He became deputy chairman of Cheshirequarter sessions in 1966,[4] and then of Denbighshire quarter sessions in 1968,[5] serving in both offices until 1970. He was aCrown Courtrecorder from 1974[6] to 1988, and also sat as an arbitrator on the Court of Arbitration of theInternational Chamber of Commerce in Paris.
He was bilingual in Welsh and English, and took an active part in theGorsedd, attendingEisteddfodau under thebardic name Pedr Conwy (Welsh: Peter from Conway).
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He married Tessa Dean in 1947. She was the daughter of actor, film, and theatrical producerBasil Dean and his wife, Lady Mercy Greville. His wife died in 1985, and he outlived both of their two sons. He was survived by his two daughters upon his death in February 2008 at the age of 87.
Thomas was elected toParliament as MP forConway in 1951,[7] winning a narrow majority in the marginal seat over the Labour incumbent. He turned down the position ofUnder-Secretary of State for Wales at theHome Office to concentrate on his legal career but later served asParliamentary private secretary to SirHarry Hylton-Foster (theSolicitor General and laterSpeaker) from 1954 to 1959. He was a member of theCouncil of Europe from 1957 to 1959, and sponsored theprivate members bill that became theEisteddfod Act 1959.
He served asParliamentary Secretary at theMinistry of Labour 1959–61, taking charge of the measures that abolished the requirements for employees to be paid in cash and the maximum wage for a professional footballer (£14 per week in November 1960). He moved to becomeUnder-Secretary of State at theForeign Office in 1961, travelling toMoscow withLord Home in 1963 to sign theNuclear Test Ban Treaty. He was promoted toMinister of State for Foreign Affairs in 1963, and was sworn of thePrivy Council in theQueen's Birthday Honours of 1964,[8] but left office when his party lost the1964 general election. In opposition, he was a spokesman on foreign affairs and then law from 1965 to 1966. Although he had held his Conway seat (and steadily increased his majority) since 1951,[9][10][11] he narrowly lost to Labour at the1966 general election,[12] but returned as MP forHendon South at thegeneral election in June 1970,[13] a position which he held until retiring in 1987.[14][15][16][17]
During the whole ofEdward Heath's premiership, he held the position ofSecretary of State for Wales. He was Secretary of State during a period of violent activism by proponents of the Welsh language, including bombings and a campaign by theCymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Society) to remove English road signs. In February 1971, paralleling plans to reorganise local government in England, Thomas announced the plans to replace the existing 181 local councils with 7 newcounty councils counties and 36district councils. An extra county council was added later, for Cardiff. Thomas also served asChairman of the Conservative Party between 1970 and 1972.
Thomas remained Welsh spokesman after the Conservative Party lost thegeneral election in February 1974, but left the front bench whenMargaret Thatcher became party leader in February 1975. He became active on backbench committees, and was president of theConservative Friends of Israel. He retired from the House of Commons at the1987 general election, and was raised to the peeragefor life in theDissolution Honours that year,[18]gazetted asBaron Thomas of Gwydir, of Llanrwst in the County ofGwynedd.[19]
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forConway 1951–1966 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHendon South 1970–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Conservative Party 1970–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Wales 1970–1974 | Succeeded by |
| 1964–1970 | .svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1970–1974 | ||
| 1974–1979 | ||
| 1979–1997 | ||
| 1997–2010 | ||
| 2010–2024 | ||
| 2024–present | ||
_(St_Edwards_Crown).svg)
