Alan Beith

Infobox_Politician
honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
name = Sir Alan Beith
honorific-suffix = MP

---

office = Deputy Leader of Liberal Democrats
term_start = 11 April 1992
term_end = 12 February 2003
leader = Paddy Ashdown
Charles Kennedy
predecessor = Russell Johnston
successor = Menzies Campbell
office2 = Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesperson
term_start2 = 12 July 1994
term_end2 = 29 August 1999
leader2 = Paddy Ashdown
predecessor2 = (Office created)
successor2 = Simon Hughes
office3 = Lib Dems Leader of the House of Commons
term_start3 = 29 August 1999
term_end3 = 15 May 2003
leader = Charles Kennedy
predecessor3 = Charles Kennedy
successor3 = Paul Tyler
constituency_MP4 = Berwick-upon-Tweed
parliament4 =
term_start4 = 8 November 1973
term_end4 =
majority4 = 8,632 (23.9%)
predecessor4 = Antony Lambton
successor4 =
birth_date = birth date and age|1943|04|20|df=yes
birth_place = Poynton, Cheshire
party = Liberal Democrats
spouse = Barbara Ward (1965–1998)
Diana Maddock, Baroness Maddock (2001–)
relations =
children = One son (d. 2000) and one daughter
alma_mater = Balliol College, Oxford and Nuffield College
occupation = Politician
profession =
religion = Methodist


website = http://www.alanbeith.org.uk/
footnotes =

Sir Alan James Beith (born 20 April 1943), is a British politician, and the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Early life

Alan Beith was born in 1943 in Poynton, Cheshire into a working class Conservative family. He was educated at The King's School, Macclesfield, Balliol College, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics graduating in 1964, and Nuffield College where he obtained a Bachelor of Letters (BLitt) degree.

In 1966 he began his career as a politics lecturer at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1969 he was elected a councillor on the Hexham District Council. In 1970 he was elected to the Corbridge Town Council. He contested the 1970 General Election at Berwick-upon-Tweed but was defeated heavily by the Conservative MP Antony Lambton.

Member of Parliament

In 1973 Alan Beith was elected to the North Tynedale District Council, and later in the year Antony Lambton resigned as the MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed in great scandal. At the by-election later that year, Beith secured a victory and was elected as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed on 8 November 1973 by just 57 votes.

The next year was to prove a major campaigning act for the now Alan Beith MP, just three months after his by-election victory he had to face his electors again at the February 1974 General Election, his majority increased to 443. Less than a year after he was elected for the first time, Beith had to face his constituents for a third time at the October 1974 General Election and his majority reduced back to double figures at just 73.

Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, and failed leadership bid

He became a Member of the BBC Advisory Council in 1974 and held the position until 1984. On the election of David Steel as the Leader of the Liberal Party in 1976, Alan Beith became the Liberal Chief Whip in the Commons. After the 1983 General Election he also became the Liberal spokesman for Constitutional Affairs. He was elected as the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in 1985, in both cases alongside his duties as Chief Whip.

After the United Kingdom general election, 1987, Beith concentrated his efforts as the spokesman on Treasury Affairs and stood down as the Chief Whip after eleven years in post. In 1988 the Liberal Party joined with the Social Democratic Party finally to produce the new party of (initially) the Social and Liberal Democrats. Beith stood against Paddy Ashdown in the first leadership election, an election that Ashdown won by a large margin.

Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, and the back benches

Alan Beith was the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats from after the 1992 General Election under Ashdown until 2003, and became a Member of the Privy Council in 1992. In 1994 he became the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, a job which he carried on under Charles Kennedy. After the 2001 General Election he briefly became the spokesman on the Lord Chancellor's Department, but left the front bench in 2002, though remaining Deputy Leader until the following year.

Since leaving the front bench he has chaired the Lord Chancellor's Department, Constitutional Affairs, and Justice Committees. Following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell as Leader of The Liberal Democrats on 15 October 2007, Beith was spoken of as a possible compromise candidate for the leadership. However, in a statement on his personal website, he announced his decision not to stand for election for the leadership.

Beith was knighted in the 2008 Birthday Honours.

Personal life

He has been Berwick-upon-Tweed's MP since 1973 and is now the longest current serving Liberal Democrat MP and only current Liberal Democrat MP to have experience of the House of Commons in the 1970s. As such he has been the MP for the northernmost English constituency for over 30 years.

Alan was married in 1965 to Barbara Ward and they had a son and a daughter. His wife died in 1998 and he married Diana Maddock in 2001. He is president of the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum.

References

External links

* [http://www.alanbeith.org.uk/ Rt Hon Alan Beith MP] official site
* [http://www.libdems.org.uk/people/alan-beith Alan Beith MP] profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
* [http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Alan+Beith/ ePolitix.com - Alan Beith MP]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-334,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Alan Beith]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/a_j_beith/berwick-upon-tweed TheyWorkForYou.com - A J Beith MP]
* [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=A_J_Beith&mpc=Berwick-upon-Tweed The Public Whip - A J Beith MP] voting record
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/46.stm BBC News - Alan Beith] BBC profile