Peter Griffiths
| Peter Griffiths | |
|---|---|
|
Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North |
|
|
In office 3 May 1979 – 1 May 1997 |
|
| Preceded by | Frank Judd |
| Succeeded by | Syd Rapson |
|
Member of Parliament for Smethwick |
|
|
In office 15 October 1964 – 31 March 1966 |
|
| Preceded by | Patrick Gordon Walker |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Faulds |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
24 May 1928 West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England, UK |
| Died | 20 November 2013 (aged 85) Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK |
| Citizenship | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Residence | United Kingdom |
Peter Harry Steve Griffiths (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2013) was a British Conservative politician best known for gaining the Smethwick seat by defeating the Shadow Foreign Secretary Patrick Gordon Walker in the 1964 general election against the national trend.
Griffiths was born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, and attended West Bromwich Grammar School. He was educated at Leeds Teacher Training College and, after his National Service, studied for an external London University Economics degree and a Masters in Education at Birmingham University, while teaching in West Bromwich. From 1962, he was the head of Hall Green Road primary school, West Bromwich.
Griffiths was elected to Smethwick County Borough Council in 1955. At the 1959 election, he stood against the Smethwick's sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Patrick Gordon Walker for the first time, and succeeded in reducing Walker's majority from 6,495 to 3,544. Griffiths became leader of the council's Conservative group in 1960, serving as a local councillor until 1963 when he resigned to stand again for the Smethwick parliamentary seat in the forthcoming general election.
Labour's victory in the 1964 election had been predicted, and Patrick Gordon Walker, who had been Shadow Foreign Secretary for 18 months, was expected to hold on to his seat. Instead, Peter Griffiths gained the seat for the Conservatives on a 7% swing in a county borough had the highest percentage of recent immigrants to England. Racial discrimination was common in the constituency and nationally; the local Labour club operated a colour bar.
...
Wikipedia