Alan Williams

Alan John Williams (14 October 1930 – 21 December 2014) was a British Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Swansea West for over 45 years, from 1964 to 2010. He was the longest serving MP for a Welsh constituency since David Lloyd George and built a reputation for his detailed scrutiny of the ways in which public money was spent. Early life Williams was born in Caerphilly, the son of Emlyn, a former miner who became a local government officer, and Violet (née Ross). He was educated at Cardiff High School for Boys (a state grammar school) then Cardiff College of Technology and Commerce when he gained a BSc in economics in 1954 (awarded by the University of London). At University College, Oxford, he studied PPE. He became an economics lecturer at the Welsh College of Advanced Technology then a broadcaster and journalist. Member of Parliament for Swansea West He unsuccessfully contested Poole in 1959, coming second to Conservative incumbent Richard Pilkington. Shortly afterwards he was selected as the candidate for Swansea West, which the Conservatives had won by a narrow majority of 403 votes. The constituency, containing the city centre, the university and the relatively prosperous western suburbs, had historically been a marginal one for Labour, in contrast to the more working-class Swansea East. Percy Morris, elected in the Labour landslide of 1945, had seen his majority cut to just over a thousand votes in 1955 before the Conservative Hugh Rees unseated him four years later. Williams recaptured the seat in 1964, and held it for nearly 46 years. However, it was never entirely safe, and Rees tried unsuccessfully to recapture the seat in 1966 and 1970.