| The Right HonourableThe Lord Merlyn-ReesPC | |
|---|---|
.jpg/440px-Merlyn_Rees_appearing_on_After_Dark_,_16_July_1988_-_(cropped).jpg) Merlyn Rees on After Dark in 1988 | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Energy | |
| In office 4 November 1980 – 24 November 1982 | |
| Leader | Michael Foot |
| Preceded by | David Owen |
| Succeeded by | John Smith |
| Shadow Home Secretary | |
| In office 4 May 1979 – 4 November 1980 | |
| Leader | James Callaghan |
| Preceded by | William Whitelaw |
| Succeeded by | Roy Hattersley |
| Home Secretary | |
| In office 10 September 1976 – 4 May 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | James Callaghan |
| Preceded by | Roy Jenkins |
| Succeeded by | William Whitelaw |
| Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |
| In office 5 March 1974 – 10 September 1976 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Francis Pym |
| Succeeded by | Roy Mason |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |
| In office 24 March 1972 – 4 March 1974 | |
| Leader | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Francis Pym |
| Member of Parliamentfor Morley and Leeds South | |
| In office 9 June 1983 – 16 March 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Succeeded by | John Gunnell |
| Member of Parliamentfor Leeds South | |
| In office 20 June 1963 – 13 May 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Hugh Gaitskell |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Merlyn Rees 18 December 1920 Cilfynydd, Wales |
| Died | 5 January 2006 (aged 85) London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | |
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Merlyn Merlyn-Rees, Baron Merlyn-Rees, PC (né Merlyn Rees; 18 December 1920 – 5 January 2006) was a British Labour politician and Member of Parliament from 1963 until 1992. He served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1974–1976) and Home Secretary (1976–1979).
Early life[edit]
Rees was born in Cilfynydd, near Pontypridd, Glamorgan, the son of Levi Rees, a war veteran who moved from Wales to England to find work.[1] He was educated at Harrow Weald Grammar School, Harrow, England and Goldsmiths College, London where he was president of the students' union from 1939 to 1941. In 1941 he joined the RAF, becoming a squadron leader and earning the nickname "Dagwood". He served in Italy as operations and intelligence officer to No 324 Squadron under Group Captain WGG Duncan-Smith (father of the future Tory leader). One of Rees's Spitfire pilots in Italy, Frank Cooper, became his Permanent Secretary at the Northern Ireland Office. He attended the London School of Economics where he received BSc(Econ) and MSc(Econ). He was appointed schoolmaster at his old school in Harrow in 1949, teaching economics and history. He taught for eleven years, during which time he was three times an unsuccessful parliamentary candidate for Harrow East, in 1955, 1959, and in a 1959 by-election. He was a member of the Institute of Education at the University of London from 1959 to 1962.
Member of Parliament[edit]
At a by-election in 1963, he stood successfully as the Labour candidate for Leeds South, succeeding Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell, who had died in office. He held the seat until he stepped down from the House of Commons at the 1992 general election. The constituency was renamed as Morley and Leeds South in 1983. He was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from March 1974 until September 1976,[1] when he was appointed Home Secretary. For two years before the Labour government came to power in 1974 he had been Labour Party spokesman on Northern Ireland. Rees wrote of his views on Northern Ireland in: Northern Ireland: a Personal Perspective.[2] One month after his appointment as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rees lifted the proscription against the illegal loyalist paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in an attempt to bring them into the democratic process,[3] however, the organisation was implicated in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings on 17 May 1974 and the group was once more banned by the British Government on 3 October 1975. Rees’ decision to permit the Sunningdale power sharing arrangements to collapse in Northern Ireland was described as ‘supine’ by former SDLP leader, Seamus Mallon.[4]
Retirement[edit]
When he retired from the House of Commons in 1992, he was created a life peer as Baron Merlyn-Rees, of Morley and South Leeds in the County of West Yorkshire and of Cilfynydd in the County of Mid Glamorgan[5] and entered the House of Lords, having changed his name, on 23 June 1992, by deed poll to Merlyn Merlyn-Rees[6] to allow his title to be Merlyn-Rees rather than Rees.[7]
He was president of the Video Standards Council from 1990 and was the first Chancellor of the University of Glamorgan, a position he held from 1994 to 2002.[citation needed]
Death[edit]
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He suffered injuries in a number of falls, and failing to recover from these, fell into a coma, dying at the age of 85. He was survived by his wife Colleen and three sons.
Legacy[edit]
Merlyn Rees Avenue in Morley, West Yorkshire is named after Rees. Merlyn Rees Community High School in Belle Isle, Leeds was named after Rees until its merger with Mathew Murray Comprehensive School in 2006 when it was renamed South Leeds High School.
References[edit]
- ^ a b Edward Pearce (5 January 2006). "Lord Merlyn-Rees". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
- ^ London: Methuen, 1985. ISBN 0-413-52590-2
- ^ Taylor, Peter (1999). Loyalists. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, p. 124.
- ^ ‘Seamus Mallon: I saw John Hume’s raw courage as he faced bloodthirsty Paras’; The Irish Times, 4 August 2020
- ^ "No. 52982". The London Gazette. 6 July 1992. p. 11339.
- ^ "No. 52985". The London Gazette. 8 July 1992. p. 11569.
- ^ "Obituary: Lord Merlyn-Rees". BBC. 5 January 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- BBC News (5 January 2006). “Peer's roots in 'gifted' street”. Retrieved 15 January 2006.
- "Belfast years remembered for vacillation in face of loyalist strike" (5 January 2006). The Irish Times, p. 14.
- Wakefieldtoday.co.uk."Your Online Guide to Yorkshire People". Retrieved 15 January 2006.
Reading[edit]
- Merlyn Rees, "Northern Ireland: a personal perspective", London: Methuen, 1985.
External links[edit]
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Merlyn Rees
- Merlyn Rees (The Second World War Experience Centre)
- Catalogue of the Merlyn-Rees papers at the Archives Division of the London School of Economics.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hugh Gaitskell | Member of Parliament for Leeds South 1963–83 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Morley and Leeds South 1983–92 | Succeeded by John Gunnell |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Francis Pym | Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1974–76 | Succeeded by Roy Mason |
| Preceded by Roy Jenkins | Home Secretary 1976–79 | Succeeded by William Whitelaw |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by The Lord Morris of Aberavon | Chancellor of the University of Glamorgan 1994–2002 | Incumbent |
