Cylchgronau Cymru

The need to select a candidate had become all the more urgent as in March the Montgomeryshire Conservative Association had announced that it had chosen as its candidate C. E. FitzHugh of Plas Power Hall, Wrexham.35 At his adoption meeting, FitzHugh declared, 'Having lived all my life in Wales, my sympathies are with Welshmen and Welsh farmers'. He committed himself to a policy of 'rigid economy' and sacrifice by all classes, and launched an attack on the traditional Liberal raison d'etre of Free Trade by announcing his desire to 'safeguard the jobs of the workers by safeguarding their produced Clearly, FitzHugh would be a formidable opponent to any Liberal candidate. As the summer of 1931 went by, still no Liberal candidate appeared. Clement Davies again re-iterated his intention of standing down when the general election came.37 Rumours spread that David Davies of Llandinam, Liberal Member for Montgomeryshire from 1906 to 1929, might again be induced to stand at the polls,38 rumours which were soon to be proven groundless. Finally, in August, the Montgomeryshire Liberal Association chosen Christmas P. Williams as its prospective parliamentary candidate. He was the son of the managing director of the Brymbo Steel Company and had been elected as the Liberal Member of Parliament for the Wrexham division in 1924.39 He had been defeated at Wrexham in 1929, which had greatly embittered him,40 and was ripe for selection elsewhere. He was Welsh-speaking and cautiously described himself as 'an ardent but not bigoted Welsh nationalist'.41 He was the unanimous choice of the investigation committee set up to choose a candidate,42 a choice which was readily confirmed by all the local Liberal associations throughout Montgomeryshire.43 It was the opinion of the local Liberal press that Williams had 'every likelihood of following in the line of Liberal representation which every Liberal might will be proud of'.44 It is one of the ironies of fate that Williams was never given the opportunity of succeeding to his inheritance. While Montgomeryshire Liberals were absorbed in the task of selecting a new Parliamentary candidate during 1930 and 1931, they continued to be represented at Westminster by Clement Davies. After the fiasco over the Coal Mines Bill in the spring of 1930, Davies had increasingly dissociated himself from Lloyd George and had become involved with a group of Liberals who met regularly under Sir Robert Hutchinson. This group had lent support to Ramsay Mac- Donald's National Government in 1931, and, when it was decided to appeal to the nation in October 1931, Davies threw in his lot with the Liberal National group which included Sir John Simon. He argued that the formation of the National Government was the most congenial means of taking the steps necessary for the safety of the nation.45 No great significance was attached to Davies's actions since it was believed that Williams would be Montgomeryshire's representative in the new parliament. 35Montgomershire Express, 3 March 1931. 36/bid. 37Ibid., 18 August 1931. 38/bid. 39Ibid. *>N.L.W., Lady Haydn Jones papers, Christmas P. Williams to Henry Haydn Jones, 6 June 1929. 41Montgomeryshire Express, 18 August 1931. 42Montgomeryshire Liberal Association, Newtown, Mont. Lib. Assoc. minute book, 1920-60, report of the Investiga- tion Committee, 11 August 1931. *Ibid., Council Minutes, 3 October 1931. "Montgomeryshire Express, 6 October 1931. *Ibid., 21 October 1931.