The era of Liberal ascendancy in Wales

[QuentinDeakin]

On Monday October 21st 2024, at the first of two meetings on the theme of Politics in Wales, the society
was pleased to welcome County Councillor Steve Churchman for a presentation entitled The Era of Liberal Party Ascendancy in Wales. Steve gave an excellent and enlightening talk tracing the emergence of the party in the second half of the nineteenth century around enduring core values. In Wales its increasing success culminated in 1895 when its dominance reached almost a hundred per cent. Eventually public support waned and to an extent was transferred to the Labour Party which absorbed many of the Liberal Party's values and policies. For example the Beveridge Report, which paved the way to Labour's introduction of the NHS. However, the greater part of Steve's talk was devoted to a detailed account of the contributions of the Liberal MP's within constituencies now contained within Gwynedd, whose achievements are still discernible in the present life and culture of Wales. The lecture was amply illustrated and contained very useful spreadsheets. Questions were answered and an interesting discussion followed.