The Right Honourable The Lord Aylestone CH CBE PC |
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Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs | |
In office 1 August 1966 – 29 August 1967 |
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Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
Preceded by | Arthur Bottomley (Commonwealth Relations) |
Succeeded by | George Thomson |
Lord President of the Council | |
In office 16 October 1964 – 11 August 1966 |
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Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
Preceded by | Quintin Hogg |
Succeeded by | Richard Crossman |
Leader of the House of Commons | |
In office 16 October 1964 – 11 August 1966 |
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Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
Preceded by | Selwyn Lloyd |
Succeeded by | Richard Crossman |
Member of Parliament for Leicester South West Leicester South (1945–1950) |
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In office 5 July 1945 – 2 November 1967 |
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Preceded by | Charles Waterhouse |
Succeeded by | Tom Boardman |
Personal details | |
Born | 20 January 1905 Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom |
Died | 30 April 1994 | (aged 89)
Nationality | British |
Political party |
Labour Social Democratic Party |
Herbert William Bowden, Baron Aylestone CH CBE PC (20 January 1905 – 30 April 1994) was a British Labour politician.
Born in Cardiff, Wales, Bowden was a councillor on Leicester City Council 1938–45 and president of Leicester Labour Party in 1938. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He was elected at the 1945 general election for South Leicester, taking South-West Leicester at the 1950 election. He was appointed a whip in 1949 and a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in 1950. From 1951, he was Deputy Chief Whip, then Chief Whip through Labour's years in opposition. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1953 Coronation Honours.
When Labour returned to power in 1964, Bowden was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, having become a Privy Counsellor in 1962. In 1966 he was moved to the new post of Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs, serving until 1967. On 20 September 1967, he was created a life peer as Baron Aylestone, of Aylestone in the City of Leicester and became chairman of the Independent Television Authority. He was appointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the 1975 Birthday Honours. He joined the Social Democratic Party in the 1980s.