Reginald Maudling Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Rt. Hon. Reginald Maudling (March 7,1917 - February 14, 1979), though probably most famous outside the United Kingdom as the frequent subject of Monty Python's barbs, was a barrister and British politician.
Maudling attended the Merchant Taylors School and Merton College, Oxford where he read law. He was called to the Bar (Middle Temple) in 1940, but served in the Royal Air Force during World War II where he rose to the rank of Flight Lieutenant before switching to a desk job as Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Air, Sir Archibald Sinclair. He had already become active in the Conservative Party, and was adopted as candidate for Heston and Isleworth which was a newly created constituency in west London. In the Labour landslide election of 1945, Maudling was one of those who lost seats thought to have been safe.
During the Conservative Party's extensive rethink of its position in the late 1940s, Maudling played an important role as Head of Economics at the Conservative Research Department and as personal adviser to Winston Churchill on economic issues. He persuaded the party to accept most of the Labour government's nationalisation programme while pledging to cut government spending. Maudling was adopted as candidate for Barnet, another seat unexpectedly won by Labour but thought unlikely to stay with the party, and in the 1950 election was comfortably elected with a majority of 10,534.
Maudling's experience of preparing economic policy led to his appointment as Economic Secretary to the Treasury shortly after the Conservatives regained office in 1951. When Anthony Eden took over as Prime Minister, he was promoted to head a department as Minister of Supply, and Harold Macmillan made him Paymaster General in 1957, which eventually took him into the Cabinet (September 17, 1957). He entered the frontline of politics after the 1959 election when appointed President of the Board of Trade.
He was responsible introducing the government's proposals to help areas of high unemployment by paying grants to companies to build new plants in such areas and by the government taking over unused land for development. He also succeeded in negotiating a free trade agreement between the countries outside the Common Market, which became the European Free Trade Association; Maudling was opposed to any proposal to join the Common Market, remarking "I can think of no more retrograde step economically or politically". Maudling was briefly responsible for the process of decolonisation as Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1961, before being appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in Macmillan's "Night of the Long Knives" attempt to rejuvenate his Cabinet.
The 1963 budget aimed at "expansion without inflation" after a period of economic difficulty, with a growth target of 4%. Maudling removed income tax from owner occupiers' residential premises. Maudling was considered as a possible successor to Macmillan when illness forced him out of office, but was too junior. In the 1964 election Maudling had a prominent role at the helm of the party's daily press conferences while the party leader Alec Douglas-Home toured the country. He was praised for conveying a calm and relaxed image but was unable to prevent the party's narrow defeat.
Unlike other potential leadership contenders, Maudling publicly maintained his loyalty to Douglas-Home as criticisms of his leadership gathered in 1965. When Douglas-Home resigned, after putting in place a system in which the leadership was directly elected, Maudling fought against Edward Heath for the job as the candidate of the party right. Unfortunately for Maudling, Enoch Powell also stood; Maudling won 133 votes against 150 for Heath, with Powell obtaining 15 - most of whom would have voted for Maudling. Maudling's defeat was a surprise although feeling in the country and in most newspapers was in Heath's favour.
Under Heath, Maudling served as Deputy Leader of the party and a prominent member of the Shadow Cabinet. However, he was not close to Edward Heath either personally or politically and his influence declined. He accepted several business directorships in order to boost his income. When the Conservatives returned to power in 1970 he was appointed Home Secretary; he had principal responsibily for dealing with the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Maudling did not enjoy this responsibility and after boarding the aeroplane at the end of his first visit to the province, remarked "For God's sake bring me a large Scotch. What a bloody awful country."
Maudling's tendency to calmness was unhelpful when he referred to reducing IRA violence to "an acceptable level" and he tended to gloss over differences between the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland governments. This approach backfired when James Chichester-Clark resigned over the split in March 1971. That August, Maudling reluctantly authorised the Northern Ireland government to introduce internment without trial for terror suspects, which provoked dismay among the Catholic population. Maudling's statement in the House of Commons after Bloody Sunday agreed with the Army's claim that they had only fired in self-defence, and so inflamed the nationalist MP Bernadette Devlin that she punched him.
Meanwhile, Maudling was in trouble because of his business activities. One of the directorships he obtained in 1966 was with John Poulson, an architect for whom Maudling helped obtained some lucrative contracts. Poulson routinely did business through bribery and in 1972 was made bankrupt. The hearings disclosed his bribe payments and Maudling's connection; Maudling decided that as he was responsible for the Metropolitan Police whose fraud squad may be investigating him, he was unable to remain in office. He resigned on July 18.
When the Conservative Party moved into opposition in 1974, Edward Heath was replaced as leader by Margaret Thatcher. She surprised many by appointing Maudling to the post of Shadow Foreign Secretary. However, Maudling failed to make an impact in his new role and he was dismissed on November 19, 1976. Further revelations about Poulson led to a Parliamentary inquiry into the conduct of Maudling and two other MPs, which published its report on July 14, 1977. The report said that Maudling had indulged in "conduct inconsistent with the standards which the House is entitled to expect from its members". An attempt by backbench Labour MPs to expel him from the House was defeated by 331 votes to 11.
Maudling had intended to continue his political career, but died suddenly on Valentines' day in 1979.
"There comes a time in every man's life when he must make way for an older man."
-Remark made in Smoking Room of House of Commons on being dropped from Margaret Thatcher's Shadow Cabinet
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| Preceded by: Sir Walter Monckton | Paymaster-General 1957-1959 | Followed by: The Lord Mills |
| Preceded by: Sir David Eccles | President of the Board of Trade 1959-1961 | Followed by: Fred Erroll |
| Preceded by: Iain Macleod | Secretary of State for the Colonies 1961-1962 | Followed by: Duncan Sandys |
| Preceded by: Selwyn Lloyd | Chancellor of the Exchequer 1962-1964 | Followed by: James Callaghan |
| Preceded by: James Callaghan | Home Secretary 1970-1972 | Followed by: Leonard Robert Carr |
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