Tom Ellis (politician)
Robert Thomas Ellis (15 March 1924 – 14 April 2010) was a Welsh politician who was elected several times as a Labour Party Member of Parliament, and later joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Early life
Ellis was born in Pant,
Parliamentary career
Ellis joined the Labour Party in 1943.
Ellis had grown increasingly disaffected with the leftward direction of the Labour Party by the beginning of the 1980s. He was one of the core handful of Jenkinsite Labour MPs who were prepared to leave the Labour Party without the Gang of Three of David Owen, Bill Rodgers, and Shirley Williams. In fact, he had even gone so far as seriously to contemplate joining the Liberals. Ellis' disenchantment with the Labour Party was so great that he probably voted for Michael Foot over Denis Healey in Labour's 1980 leadership election in order to accelerate the disintegration of the Labour Party.[citation needed]
In 1981, Ellis became one of the founding members of the
Later life
At the 1987 general election, Ellis stood again in Clwyd South West, finishing a respectable third. After the merger of the SDP and the Liberals, he stood for the then Social and Liberal Democrats at the 1989 Pontypridd by-election, finishing a weak fourth behind the victor Kim Howells.
Publications
- Ellis, Tom (May 2003). Dan Loriau Maelor: Hunangofiant Tom Ellis. Gwasg Gomer. ISBN 1-84323-179-4.
- Ellis, Tom (October 2004). After The Dust Has Settled: The Autobiography of Tom Ellis. Bridge Books. ISBN 1-84494-013-6.
- Ellis, Tom (August 2008). R. S. Thomas a'i Gerddi. Y Lolfa. ISBN 978-1-84771-051-2.
Notes
- ^ Review of After the Dust Has Settled: The Autobiography of Tom Ellis (Gwales.com)
- ^ Tom Ellis, Rosaleen Hughes and Phillip Whitehead, Electoral Reform, Fabian Tract 483 (London: Fabian Society, 1982), preface.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Tom Ellis
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