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Article: OBITUARY: Lord Thomas of Gwydir.(News)(Obituary)
- Article from:
- Daily Post (Liverpool, England)
- Article date:
- February 8, 2008
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 MGN Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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CHOSEN by Tory prime minister Edward Heath in 1970, to become his first Secretary of State for Wales, Lord Thomas of Gwydir was thrust into the political hotseat.
The Conservatives were neither popular nor successful in the Principality and aggressive Welsh nationalism was boiling up. That the then MP Peter Thomas's constituency was in the leafy London suburb of Hendon South ensured objections rained down.
However, Thomas's credentials were impeccable: Welsh-born, Welsheducated, Welsh-speaking, he read law at the traditionally Welsh Oxford college, Jesus. From 1951 to 1966, he held Conway for the Tories, defeated by 581 votes in Harold Wilson's second ...