Herbert Bowden, Baron Aylestone

"Herbert Bowden" redirects here. For Australian rules footballer, seeHerbert Bowden (footballer).

The Right Honourable The Lord Aylestone CHCBEPC
Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs
In office 1 August 1966 – 29 August 1967
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Arthur Bottomley(Commonwealth Relations)
Succeeded by	George Thomson
Leader of the House of Commons Lord President of the Council
In office 16 October 1964 – 11 August 1966
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Selwyn Lloyd (Leader of Commons) Quintin Hogg (President of Council)
Succeeded by	Richard Crossman
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 3 November 1967 – 30 April 1994 Life Peerage
Member of Parliament forLeicester South West Leicester South(1945–1950)
In office 5 July 1945 – 2 November 1967
Preceded by	Charles Waterhouse
Succeeded by	Tom Boardman
Personal details
Born	20 January 1905 Cardiff,Wales,United Kingdom
Died	30 April 1994(1994-04-30)(aged 89) Worthing,West Sussex, United Kingdom
Political party	ILP(until 1936) Labour(1936–81) SDP(1981–88) 'Continuing' SDP(1988–90) Liberal Democrats(1992–94)
Spouses	Louisa Brown ​ ​ (m.1928; died 1992)​ Vicki Clayton ​ (m.1993)​

Herbert William Bowden, Baron Aylestone,CH,CBE,PC(20 January 1905 – 30 April 1994) was a BritishLabour politician.

Early life

Born inCardiff,Wales,Bowden was the son of Herbert Bowden, a baker, and his wife Henrietta (née Gould). Bowden later recalled that "I was born with the smell of bread in my nostrils and lived around the bakehouses. I always had one thought in mind – never to be employed in them."After completing elementary school he opened a tobacconist's shop, but following the collapse of his business during theGreat Depressionhe left Cardiff to look for work elsewhere, eventually becoming a radio salesman inLeicester.

Political career

Bowden had been a member of theIndependent Labour Party(ILP) as a young man, but sided with the Labour Party when the two parties disagreed over how best to support theRepublican factionin theSpanish Civil War.In 1938, he was elected to sit onLeicester City Council,and later that year became president of the city's Labour Party. Having served as a flying officer in theRoyal Air ForceduringWorld War II,Bowden was elected MP forLeicester Southat the1945 general election,and then forLeicester South Westfrom1950until his retirement from theHouse of Commonsin 1967. He was appointed awhipin 1949 and aLord Commissioner of the Treasuryin 1950. From 1951 onwards, he was DeputyChief Whip,then Chief Whip throughout Labour's years in opposition. Bowden was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire(CBE) in the1953 Coronation Honours.

Bowden was regarded as being on the right of the Labour Party, and supportedHugh Gaitskellin his battles with the left before switching his allegiance toHarold Wilsonfollowing Gaitskell's death in 1963.He was, as theDaily Telegraphlater commented, somewhat "traditional" in his mindset, representing the "authentic... old hat, passé, reactionary voice of the Labour Party", but his forthright attitude to party discipline (which had earned him the sobriquet "The Sergeant Major" amongst Labour MPs) made him an efficient and much-respected parliamentary whip.Thus, when Labour returned to power in 1964, Bowden was appointedLeader of the House of CommonsandLord President of the Council,having become aPrivy Counsellorin 1962. In 1966, he was moved to the new post ofSecretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs,serving until 1967. On 1 September 1967 he succeededLord Hillas chairman of theIndependent Television Authority.

On 20 September 1967, Bowden was created alife peerasBaron Aylestone,ofAylestonein theCity of Leicester,taking the Labour whip.He was appointed a member of theOrder of the Companions of Honourin the1975 Birthday Honours,and from 1984 to 1992 was aDeputy Speakerof theHouse of Lords.To many people's surprise,he left Labour to join theSocial Democratic Party(SDP) in 1981. Remaining with the SDP throughout the party's existence, after its demise in 1988 he chose to followDavid Owen's breakaway'continuing' SDPrather than support the merger with theLiberals.When the Owenite rump itself dissolved two years later, Aylestone sat in the Lords as an 'Independent Social Democrat' before joining theLiberal Democratsin 1992.

Death

Lord Aylestone died in 1994, aged 89, inWorthing,Sussex,and was survived by his second wife and a daughter from his first marriage.