Full programme for the 2011 weekend school announced
Baroness Celia Thomas delivered the following tribute to the late Lord Richard Livsey, a vice-president of the Lloyd George Society, and former MP for Brecon and Radnor at the recent Society weekend school in Llandrindod Wells. Following the tribute and toast to Richard’s memory, Cllr Terry James, who had also worked closely with Richard as a sub-agent in the constituency added some personal recollections.
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It is fitting that we should be remembering Richard Livsey, the MP for Brecon & Radnor from 1985 – 1992 and 1997 – 2001, here in Llandrindod Wells in the heart of the constituency and so close to his birthplace of
Talgarth.
Richard was born in 1935. His father was a seacaptain who died in Iraq when Richard was just theee years old, and his mother was a local teacher and headmistress who was always a great influence in his life. Unlike many politicians today, Richard had a rich and varied life before entering the House of Commons at the age of 51. He joined the agricultural division of ICI in 1961 and moved to Scotland where he met and married Rene, without whom, he has said, he simply wouldn’t have been able to achieve any of the things he did achieve. They were to have three children, David, Jenny and Dougie. Having moved south to Northumberland for several years, Richard left ICI and moved back to Scotland to become an estate and farm manager, and it was in Perth that he first became a Liberal Party candidate at the General Election
of 1970. The following year, Richard moved back to Wales with Rene where he helped found the Welsh Agricultural College at Aberystwyth, becoming a lecturer and looking after his own smallholding. He stood as a Parliamentary candidate in Pembroke in 1979 and then in his home patch of Brecon & Radnor in 1983 -where it is worth recording that he came third, in the light of subsequent events.
In1985, Tom Hooson, the Conservative MP, died, and the good people in the B & R Liberal party had no hesitation in selecting Richard to fight the by-election. The Liberal Alliance by-election unit moved in and hundreds of activists turned up from all over the country to try to win the seat. The seat had become a genuinely three-way marginal, with Richard winning by just 559 votes. This is when I got to know Richard properly and was charmed by his gentle manner, his genuine interest in other people and his determination to do his very best for his constituents. Two years later, the General Election presented a formidable challenge. The by-election unit had gone, and I was asked to be his agent – a most daunting task. I discovered that he was a very popular and well-loved MP who knew every inch of his vast constituency and many of his constituents personally, for whom he worked his socks off. But nothing was simple. Before we
mapped out his itinerary, he said, in his rather mournful voice: ” Celia, there’s something you ought to know about me.” My heart sank. But he went on : ” I just can’t live on sandwiches for lunch.” Phew, what a relief – and so a pub lunch was factored in each day. But his next instruction was more than a little frustrating. He believed that he must been seen in the north and south of his constituency every day, which meant that he spent a huge amount of time on the road. He was also determined to hold meetings in every village and town, enjoying the challenge of the occasional difficult question from one or two keen to catch him out.
Safely back in the Commons with the smallest majority in the House from the largest turnout in the country, Richard became Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and party spokesman for Wales from 1988 to 1992. Then came the next General Election and once more I was asked to be his agent. This time the hunting issue was very much to the fore, and Richard was in a dilemma, which is when I saw the stubborn side of his character. I urged him to make his position clear, but he declined, saying that although he had 9 hunts in his constituency, he had actually received more letters against hunting, mainly from the Ystradgynlais area, and didn’t want to inflame passions. Besides, he thought, quite understandably, that there were far more pressing issues to speak about, such as the real poverty in much of the rural economy. But Brecon & Radnor was targeted by the British Field Sports Society, who characterised his position as being anti-
fox hunting, and Richard lost the seat by just 130 votes – perhaps the only constituency in the country where hunting may have made a difference.
For the next five years, Richard became Deputy Director and then Development Manager of the Agricultural Training Board in Wales, and was made a CBE in 1994. He regained the seat in 1997 with a good majority, and threw himself into the campaign for Welsh devolution, leading the Lib Dem team for a Yes
vote in the referendum -ultimately successful, though only by a disappointingly narrow margin. In 2001 Richard retired from the Commons, and was shortly afterwards made a Life Peer, taking the title of his birthplace -Lord Livsey of Talgarth. From the House of Lords he campaigned vigorously for registered hunting, rather than a hunting ban, being released from his earlier caution. The Lords always warms to experts, and Richard’s impressive knowledge on all matters to do with farming, the countryside, the rural economy and Wales, was much appreciated in the less combative atmosphere of the Lords.
Richard was involved in scores of groups, societies and clubs. He was President of the Wales European Movement, Chairman of the Brecon Jazz Festival, a Vice- President of the Hay Literary Festival, a Trustee of the CPRW, and a proud member of the Talgarth Male Voice Choir. We miss Richard a great deal in the Lords, and I am very pleased that we can all remember him tonight by drinking a toast in his memory.
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