David Howarth to stand down as Cambridge MP

 

The Keynes Society is sad to announce that David Howarth MP will be standing down at the next general election. David took the Cambridge seat from Labour on a 20% swing – the third-largest in the country – in 2005, and has been a truly outstanding MP since then.

He first joined Cambridge University Liberal Club when he was a student at Clare College in 1978. Contemporary registers show a “Dave Howarth” who assiduously turned up to speaker meetings. After graduate study at Yale, David returned to Clare in 1985, becoming a Reader in Law and Economics. He also had a parallel career as a local councillor. First elected as a Liberal for Castle Ward in 1987, he led the third party on the council into official opposition and eventually government, serving as Leader of Cambridge City Council between 2000 and 2003, when he headed up Cambridge’s pioneering efforts on recycling, and was responsible for numerous initiatives dealing with homelessness.

David stood down from the council to win the parliamentary seat of Cambridge, succeeding at his third attempt. As an MP he has been outspoken on a number of issues, including successfully halting an “abolition of parliament bill”, heading up the campaign against government cuts to mental health care provision in Cambridge, and he has been a tireless voice on liberal issues from controlling the arms trade to cutting carbon. Most recently, as  the Lib Dem Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, David’s forensic knowledge of civil and criminal law have seen him gain respect from all parties for his interventions.

David will be standing down to focus on his academic career, and he will no doubt continue to be a powerful voice in Cambridge, and in liberal politics. More on his announcement can be readhere, here, and here.

Lists of officers of the society

After days of gruelling research, a list of all known former Presidents/Chairs, Vice-Presidents, Treasurers and Secretaries of CU Liberal Club, CU Social Democrats, and Cambridge Student Liberal Democrats, is now up and running at http://keynessociety.wordpress.com/who-ran-the-society/ 

Some of these records stretch back to the society’s foundation in 1886, and a pretty complete list is available as far back as 1945.

We hope to further extend this information in the coming months, and would welcome all extra information and amendments from alumni.

Peter Cook 1937-1995

Peter Cook in his 1960s heyday

Anti-establishment satirist and actor Peter Cook was a (fairly inactive) member of Cambridge University Liberal Club in the late 1950s – but there is a curious postscript to this fact.

A group of Liberals who had known Cook at university tried very hard to persuade him (unsuccessfully) to stand as the Liberal Democrat candidate for parliament in Finchley in 1992, to succeed Margaret Thatcher.

Presumably, had he stood, much of his campaign would have been delivered in an E.L. Wisty voice…

Liberal Club termcards, 1886-1985

The website has now been updated with details of many of the old termcards of Cambridge University Liberal Club, with details stretching back to the 1880s, so you can now relive old memories and see exactly who spoke when and where!

Harold Abrahams, 1899-1978

As mentioned elsewhere on this site, research is currently underway on the history of Cambridge University Liberal Club. One item recently unearthed was a 1920 pamphlet, Cambridge Liberal Policy, with contributions on constitutional reform by Harold Abrahams.

Abrahams, a student at Gonville & Caius from 1919 to 1922, famously overcame substantial prejudice against his Jewish background and won the 100m sprint gold medal at the 1924 Olympics, later recounted in the film Chariots of Fire. Later in life, Abrahams maintained a legal career, and went on to stopwatch the first four-minute mile in 1962.

Harold Abrahams

As mentioned elsewhere on this site, research is currently underway on the history of Cambridge University Liberal Club. One item recently unearthed was a 1920 pamphlet, Cambridge Liberal Policy, with contributions on constitutional reform by Harold Abrahams.

Abrahams, a student at Gonville & Caius from 1919 to 1922, famously overcame substantial prejudice against his Jewish background and won a gold medal for the 100m sprint at the 1924 Olympics, as later recounted in the film Chariots of Fire. Later in life, Abrahams had a succesful legal career, and went on to stopwatch the first four-minute mile in 1954.

Liberal Voice – first issue out

Members and alumni of Cambridge Student Liberal Democrats have been mailed the first issue of Liberal Voice, the society’s new quarterly newsletter. Liberal Voice aims to be a platform for members, and to provide a snapshot of the society at any given time.

The publication is just the tip of the iceberg – further in-depth articles by CSLD members on politics, philosophy, and camaigning can be read at the Liberal Voice website at www.liberalvoice.csld.org.uk

Launch of a new publication by CSLD, for members and alumni

CSLD garden party announced!

Alumni of the society  – and their guests – are invited to the Cambridge Student Liberal Democrats’ annual garden party.

It will run from 3pm to 6pm on Saturday 13th June, in Cloister Court of Sidney Sussex College.  Tickets are £12 for alumni, and include unlimited food and drink, and a live jazz band. We very much look forward to catching up with you there!

Sidney Sussex's Cloister Court, where the garden party will be held.

New book out by Vince Cable

Vincent Cable MP – the party’s “twinkle-toed economic prophet” – has released a new book.  The Storm: The World Economic Crisis and What it Means offers plenty of his trademark trenchant analysis on the economy.

Biographical sketchwriters are very fond of pointing out that before Vince was a Liberal Democrat, he was a member of the SDP, and before that, he was a member of the Labour party. What is often missed out is that before that, Vince was a Liberal – he was President of Cambridge University Liberal Club back in 1963.

Vincent Cable's new book

New CSLD video

Cambridge Student Liberal Democrats have posted a new video up on youtube, as part of their campaign against student fees.

You can see the result below:

Clement Freud dies

Sir Clement Freud. Photo credit: PA Wire

The Keynes Society is sad to note the passing of Sir Clement Freud last night.

Sir Clement was known to generations of Cambridge Young Liberals as a diligent Cambridgeshire MP, for the neighbouring seat of the Isle of Ely (1973-87, later renamed North East Cambridgeshire), which he won in a sensational by-election, and held for four subsequent elections.

When before a Liberal selection panel for the first time, he sought to allay their worries about his reputation as a television wit, by saying ‘if elected, I will take this job more seriously than I have ever taken anything before in my life’, and so he did – he is still fondly remembered today by former constituents in Ely for his assiduous casework and advocacy.

He took a strong interest in the Cambridge University Liberal Club during his time as an MP, and was still in touch with us as recently as 2005.

And he will of course perhaps be best remembered for his dazzling, deadpan performances on ‘Just a Minute’.

Obituaries can be read below

Guardian obituary – Sir Clement Freud
Telegraph obituary – Sir Clement Freud