MPs pay tribute to Geraint Howells

Monday, 19 April 2004 12:00 AM

Former Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Lord Geraint of Ponterwyd has died at the age of 79.

Geraint Howells, a leading figure in Welsh politics for more than 30 years, had reportedly been battling serious illness for more than two years.

Members of his party paid tribute yesterday to the ardent supporter of devolution and political rivals called him a generous man and proud Welshman.

Born in 1925, Lord Geraint went to school in Aberystwyth and was elected as a member of Cardiganshire County Council in 1952. The popular politician was MP for Cardigan, then Ceredigion and Pembroke North, from 1974 to 1992, and was made a Life Peer in recognition of his years of service.

Married with two daughters, he started his working life as a farmer, but in 1979 became leader of the Welsh Liberals, standing down when the party was renamed the Social and Liberal Democrats in 1988.

Known to his constituents as Geraint, he was instrumental in forging the Lib Lab pact in the 1970s and was a passionate supporter of the Welsh language and farmers. During his time in the Lords, he held the roles of Deputy Speaker, Deputy Chairman of Committees and was a spokesman on Welsh Rural Affairs.

Lembit Opik, Welsh Liberal Democrat leader and Montgomeryshire MP, said, "For most of us in the party Geraint was a mentor, a sort of political uncle. If you were trying to do something, Geraint had usually had a go a few years before.

"But more than anything Geraint really had the heart of the party. People just cared about him because he cared about them."

The party's UK leader, Charles Kennedy, said he would "miss deeply this much treasured Celtic cousin".

"With Geraint's passing our party has lost a good and instrumental figure - and his beloved Wales has lost an authentic son of its soil," he added.

Plaid Cymru's Cynog Dafis paid tribute to Lord Geraint's contribution to Welsh devolution and said, "His influence was really significant. He was able to influence people and opinions because he was so clearly genuine in his advocacy of these things."

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