David Steel
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2008-06-29T19:31:46Z
189.146.238.88
/* Two parties merger */
{{otheruses4|the British politician|his father, the Very Rev Dr David Steel|David Steel (Church of Scotland minister)}}
{{Infobox Politician
| honorific-prefix = <small>[[The Right Honourable]]</small><br>
| name = David Steel<br>
| honorific-suffix = <small>[[Baron Steel of Aikwood]], [[Order of the Thistle|KT]], [[Order of the British Empire|KBE]], [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|PC]]</small>
| image = David Steel, October 2007.jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1938|03|31}}
| birth_place = [[Linwood]], [[Fife]], [[Scotland]]
| office = 1st [[Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament]]
| term_start = [[12 May]] [[1999]]
| term_end = [[7 May]] [[2003]]
| predecessor = ''office created''
| successor = [[George Reid (Scottish politician)|George Reid]]
| office2 = [[List of United Kingdom Liberal Democrat leaders|Leader of Social and Liberal Democrats]]
| term_start2 = [[3 March]] [[1988]]
| term_end2 = [[16 July]] [[1988]]
| predecessor2 = ''Party Created'' <Small>(With [[Robert Maclennan]]</Small>
| successor2 = [[Paddy Ashdown]]
| office3 = [[List of United Kingdom Liberal Party Leaders|Leader of Liberal Party]]
| term_start3 = [[7 July]] [[1976]]
| term_end3 = [[16 July]] [[1988]]
| predecessor3 = [[Jo Grimond]]
| successor3 = [[Paddy Ashdown]]
| constituency_MP4 = [[Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (UK Parliament constituency)|Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale]]
| term_start4 = [[11 June]] [[1983]]
| term_end4 = [[2 May]] [[1997]]
| predecessor4 = ''new constituency''
| successor4 = [[Michael Moore (UK politician)|Michael Moore]]
| constituency_MP5 = [[Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (UK Parliament constituency)|Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles]]
| term_start5 = [[24 March]] [[1965]]
| term_end5 = [[11 June]] [[1983]]
| predecessor5 = [[Charles Donaldson]]
| successor5 = ''Constituency Abolished''
| party = (1) [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]<Br>(2) [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]
}}
'''David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood''', [[Order of the Thistle|KT]], [[Order of the British Empire|KBE]], [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|PC]] (born [[31 March]] [[1938]]) is a [[United Kingdom politics|British]] and [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[politician]] and a [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] member of the [[United Kingdom|UK]] [[House of Lords]]. He was leader of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] from [[1976]] until its [[1988]] merger with the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]] that formed the Liberal Democrats, and was briefly joint interim leader of the new party, then known as the Social and Liberal Democrats. He was also the first [[Presiding Officer]] of the [[Scottish Parliament]], holding that post between [[1999]] and [[2003]].
==Early life==
David Steel was born in [[Kirkcaldy]], [[Fife]], [[Scotland]], the son of a [[Church of Scotland]] minister also called [[David Steel (Church of Scotland minister)|David Steel]], who would later serve as [[Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland|Moderator of the General Assembly]] of the [[Church of Scotland]]. He was brought up in Scotland and [[Kenya]], and educated at the [http://www.oldcambrians.com/ Prince of Wales School, Nairobi] and [[George Watson's College]] in [[Edinburgh]].
==Member of Parliament==
He first took an active part in Liberal politics at the [[University of Edinburgh]], and after graduating in Law worked for the Scottish Liberal Party and then the [[BBC]] before being elected to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] at the [[Roxburghshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles]] by-election of [[1965]], becoming the "[[Baby of the House]]". He represented this seat until 1983, when he became [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (UK Parliament constituency)|Tweedale, Ettrick and Lauderdale]], a new constituency covering much of the same territory.
As an MP he was responsible for introducing, as a [[Private Member's Bill]], the [[Abortion Act 1967]] (see [[Abortion in the United Kingdom]]). He also became the Liberal Party's spokesman on employment, and in [[1970]] its [[Chief Whip]].
===Leader of Liberal Party===
In 1976, after the downfall of [[Jeremy Thorpe]] and a short period in which [[Jo Grimond]] acted as caretaker leader, he won the Liberal leadership by a wide margin over fellow MP [[John Pardoe]]. At only 38 years old, he was one of the youngest party leaders in British history. In [[1977]], he led the Liberals into the "[[Lib-Lab pact]]" by which they agreed to keep the Labour government in power in return for a degree of prior consultation on policy.Steel has been criticised both then and since for not driving a harder bargain; the opposing case is that the ongoing scandal surrounding Thorpe left the party in a very weak state to face an early general election and Steel was wise to buy himself some time from Callaghan.The unpopularity of the Labour government impaired the Liberals' performance, and Steel's first election as leader, the [[United Kingdom general election, 1979|1979 general election]], saw a decline in Liberal fortunes.
===SDP-Liberal Alliance===
In 1981, a group of Labour moderates left their party to form the Social Democratic Party.They were joined by the former Labour deputy leader [[Roy Jenkins]] who had previously had discussions with Steel about joining the Liberals. Under Jenkins's leadership, the SDP joined the Liberals in the [[SDP-Liberal Alliance]], an electoral alliance that was so promising in its early days that Steel felt able to tell delegates at the Liberal Assembly that year to
<blockquote>
"go back to your constituencies and prepare for government."
</blockquote> However, the beginning of the [[Falklands War]] radically shifted the attitude of the electorate, and the Conservatives regained the lead in polls from the Alliance. Though the Alliance still secured more than 26% of the popular vote at the [[United Kingdom general election, 1983|1983 general election]] - only just behind Labour - its reward in terms of seats was derisory and Steel's hopes of a big political breakthrough were dashed. Shortly afterwards [[David Owen]] replaced [[Roy Jenkins]] as leader of the SDP and the troubled leadership of the "Two Davids" was inaugurated. It was never an easy relationship - Steel's political sympathies were well to the left of Owen's. Owen had a marked antipathy towards the Liberals though he respected Steel's prior loyalty to his own party contrasting it with Jenkins' lack of interest in preserving the SDP's independence. The relationship was also mercilessly satirised by ''[[Spitting Image]]'' which portrayed Steel as a squeaky voiced midget, literally in the pocket of Owen. Steel has often stated that he feels this portrayal seriously damaged his image. [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article346544.ece] This portrayal of Steel as weaker than Owen was also present in other satires, such as ''[[Private Eye]]'''s ''[[Battle for Britain (Private Eye)|Battle for Britain]]'' strip. The relationship finally fell apart during the [[United Kingdom general election, 1987|1987 general election]] when the two contradicted each other both on defence policy and on which party they would do a deal with in the event of a hung Parliament.
===Two parties merger===
Steel was convinced the answer to these difficulties was a single party with a single leader, and was the chief proponent of the 1988 merger between the Liberals and the SDP. Steel emerged victorious in persuading both parties to accept merger in the teeth of opposition from Owen and radical Liberals such as [[Michael Meadowcroft]] but badly mishandled the issuing of a joint policy document. Steel had often been criticised for a lack of interest in policy and it appeared he had agreed to the document – drawn up by politically naive SDP advisers – without reading it. Steel's colleagues rejected it immediately and demanded a re-draft, fatally wounding his authority.
Steel was briefly joint interim leader of the Social and Liberal Democrats (as the new party was at first called) before elections in which he did not stand, before becoming the party's Foreign Affairs spokesman. In 1994 he accepted an invitation from Italian liberals to stand for the [[European Parliament]] in that year's elections as a Pan-European gesture. Although not elected he polled very well. He was knighted and received the [[Order of the British Empire|KBE]]) in 1990.
===Retirement and Life Peer===
He retired from the House of Commons at the [[United Kingdom general election, 1997|1997 general election]] and was made a life peer as '''Baron Steel of Aikwood''', of Ettrick Forest in The [[Scottish Borders]] in the same year. He campaigned for Scottish devolution, and in 1999 was elected to the Scottish Parliament as a Liberal Democrat [[Member of Scottish Parliament]] for [[Lothians (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|Lothians]]. He became the first Presiding Officer (speaker) of the Scottish Parliament on [[12 May]] [[1999]]. In this role, he used the style "Sir David Steel", despite his peerage, and had no party allegiance. He stepped down as an MSP when the parliament was dissolved for the 2003 election, but remained as Presiding Officer until he had supervised the election of his successor [[George Reid (Scottish politician)|George Reid]] on [[7 May]] of that year. He was appointed [[Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland]] in both 2003 and 2004.
On [[30 November]] [[2004]], the [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen]] created Lord Steel of Aikwood a Knight of the [[Order of the Thistle]] – the highest honour in [[Scotland]].
==Attributes==
Lord Steel is a patron of the [[Burma Campaign UK]], the London based group campaigning for human rights and democracy in [[Burma]].
==Further reading==
*Peter Bartram, ''David Steel: His Life and Politics'' (W.H. Allen, [[1981]])
*David Steel, ''A House Divided'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, [[1980]])
*David Steel, ''Against Goliath: David Steel's Story'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, [[1989]])
== See also ==
*[[General Mediterranean Holdings]] owned by Anglo-Iraqi billionaire [[Nadhmi Auchi]]. Lord Steel was a director of it, and was pressured to quit it.
==External links==
* [http://archives.lse.ac.uk/dserve.exe?dsqServer=lib-4.lse.ac.uk&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo='steel') Catalogue of the Steel papers] at the [http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/archive/Default.htm Archives Division] of the [[London School of Economics]].
*[http://www.libdems.org.uk/party/people/lord-lord-steel-of-aikwood.html Lord Steel of Aikwood] profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
*[http://www.oldcambrians.com/ Prince of Wales School:Old Cambrians Society, Nairobi]
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1254767,00.html We need to rethink my abortion law] Steel's thoughts on the abortion debate today.
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{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (UK Parliament constituency)|Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles]]
| years = [[Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election, 1965|1965]]–[[United Kingdom general election, 1983|1983]]
| before = [[Charles Edward McArthur Donaldson]]
| after = Constituency Abolished
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (UK Parliament constituency)|Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale]]
| years = [[United Kingdom general election, 1983|1983]]–[[United Kingdom general election, 1997|1997]]
| before = Constituency Created
| after = [[Michael Moore (UK politician)|Michael Moore]]
}}
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{{succession box | title=[[Liberal Party (UK)|Leader of the British Liberal Party]] | years=1976–1988 | before=[[Jo Grimond]] | after=merger with [[Social Democratic Party|SDP]]}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Leader of the British<br>Liberal Democrats]]<br /><small>(with [[Robert Maclennan]])</small>
| years=1988
| before=Himself ([[The Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]])<br> and [[Robert Maclennan]] ([[Social Democratic Party (UK)|SDP]])
| after=[[Paddy Ashdown]]
}}
{{succession box |title=[[Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament]] | years=1999–2003 | before=Office Created | after=[[George Reid (Scottish politician)|George Reid]] }}
{{succession box | before=[[Teddy Taylor]] | title=[[Baby of the House]] | years=1965–1966 | after=[[John Ryan (UK politician)|John Ryan]] }}
{{s-aca}}
{{succession box|title=[[Rector of the University of Edinburgh]]|before=[[Anthony Ross (rector)|Anthony Ross]]|after=[[Archie Macpherson]]|years=1982 – 1985}}
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{{UKLiberalLeaders}}
{{Leaders of the Liberal Democrats}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steel, David}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:People from Kirkcaldy]]
[[Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for Scottish constituencies]]
[[Category:Liberal MPs (UK)]]
[[Category:Liberal Democrat MPs (UK)]]
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[[Category:Knights of the Thistle]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Leaders of the British Liberal Party]]
[[Category:Life peers|Steel of Aikwood]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Presiding Officers of the Scottish Parliament]]
[[Category:Leaders of the UK Liberal Democrats]]
[[Category:People associated with George Watson's College]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1964-1966]]
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[[fi:David Steel]]