It is with great sadness that we note the passing of Michael Meadowcroft.
The West Leeds Dispatch reports:
“Former Liberal MP for Leeds West, alderman, journalist and political affairs consultant, Michael Meadowcroft, has died at the age of 84 after a short illness, his family have announced.”
We will, of course, carry a full obituary for Michael in due course.
For now, we link to a 2020 piece Michael wrote for Liberal Democrat Voice which politely gave the party a kick up the proverbial, ending with these words:
To survive in any meaningful political and electoral presence, the party has to formulate, adopt and to promote a process towards an up-to-date statement of philosophy and values in today’s vastly different circumstances to the last effort in 2002. Then it has to apply itself to carrying through a revival strategy, constituency by constituency, over the next three years. The party has had almost an obsession in devising a detailed organisational structure at every level, it is, alas, a castle in the air and largely irrelevant to the political depths the party is in.
In the middle of the coalition he led a great Liberal Futures event in Falkirk and delivered similar pithy messages. He was not one just to castigate for being wrong – he had his ideas of how to fix things.
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30 Comments
A fine, good man.
Very sad to hear this; I enjoyed sparring with him on Yorkshire regional exec back in the day, an extremely intelligent and likeable man.
Very sad news. Michael was someone who had a both clear understanding of how Liberalism should adopt to the late 20th century, and the ability to be a strong campiagner for his commmunity in Leeds.
I was pleased he followed his son into the Liberal Democrats once it became clear that the “continuing Liberal Party” was not really continuing, but I still wish he’d come back a few years earlier when he could have had more influence in the party.
Michael was a huge influence on me when I joined the party in 2016, and, as Jennie says, he was a very smart chap who know how to articulate Liberalism in a manner from which many in the party could take lessons. I really liked him, and the party, and indeed Leeds, will be the poorer for his passing.
Memories of working with him in Leeds West when I was the candidate; always on point and articulate. He will be missed.
People who knew Michael better than me will no doubt give details of his immense contribution to the cause of liberalism. For me it will be his kindness and generosity in devoting a whole day of his time in 1985 when he was a member of Parliament helping with my county council campaign in market Harborough as a young 21 year old. It just showed what a wonderful politician he was. My thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time
As a student back in the 1980s I invited him to speak at the Alliance society in Coventry Polytechnic. He spoke about the 3 great liberal movements of the day; the peace movement, the women’s movement and the green movement. He embraced all 3 of them. He also wrote some superb pamphlets back then; Liberalism and the left, Liberalism and the right, Social Democracy – Bridge or Barrier? All had a big influence on me back then.
He had a love for ideas, and didn’t really like the abandonment of principles that appeared to take place during election campaigns, whether it was what was in manifestos or on campaign leaflets. Labour were ruthless with theirs when they unseated him in the 1987 general election after just one term.
Meadowcroft’s liberalism added a third dimension to British politics. It wasn’t based on a tape measure to find the middle between Labour and Conservative. It was based on devolving power from the state to the individual and communities to enable people to participate in the decisions that effect their own lives. It was liberalism in it’s own right, not dependent on what other parties think.
Very sad news. A really top bloke.
I’ve known Michael for over fifty years. He was an inspirational Liberal. In the first general election of 1974 he managed to get his surname spelt out on the side of a tower block – one poster carrying a single letter in each window – not easy with an eleven letter surname.
In recent years he has been a guest at reunions of Liberal Students from that era. We met up in Leeds a week ago and it was the first time that Michael was too ill to attend.
He will be greatly missed.
And……, Who will ever forget the clarinet player in Granny Lee’s All Stars ?
As many people in our party are aware I came to Liberalism relatively late. I was given Michael’s contact details a few years ago when I was trying to locate an obscure book.
We had some great conversations on the phone and he sent me some really interesting pamphlets. He is a great loss and will be much missed.
I too first met Michael over 50 years ago and cut my campaigning teeth working for him in Armley. I am so glad he and Liz were able to stay with us when they came up to Scotland last year. His fund if stories was inexhaustible. Once again we have lost one of the really good guys.
So sad to hear this news. In 1981 I was Chair of the Durham University Liberal Society. I invited Michael up to speak. Unfortunately the room was double booked. Michael took it all in his stride. We relocated to a local pub. Can’t remember how many of us but I do remember he gave a brilliant talk on Liberalism and of course Community politics. Has stayed with me ever since. I have seen many ups and downs for the party but I do know however dark it gets the kind of flame of liberalism that Michael advocated will never go out. RIP Michael and thank you.
I’m very, very sad to hear of Michael’s death. He will be sadly missed by his many friends as well as his family, to whom my heart does out as I send my sincere condolences. I’ve known Michael for well over fifty years, and counted him a friend for all that time, as much as an inspiration for all the Liberal values which we shared. My memories will include Michael’s musical contributions at Liberal Assembly’s Glee Clubs, as well as his acute political analysis and unswerving contributions to the values and ideology of Liberalism. His masterful contributions to the philosophy of the Liberal Party and subsequently of the Liberal Democrats and his determined campaigning for Liberal principles have been enormous and will be greatly missed.
A good man who will be sadly missed.
I have warm memories of Michael Meadowcroft from the 60’s when he worked for the Liberal Party as was. In recent years he has been a strong supporter of Lib Dem Friends of Palestine and we will miss him.
So sorry to hear of Michael Meadowcroft’s passing. As John Kelly says, he was a good friend of Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine; as Chair I valued the insightful, fair and thoughtful advice he gave us at a challenging time. I’ll always remember that. RIP Michael, a true Liberal.
Rest in peace Michael, a man know to have a strong moral compass, in politics for the right reasons.
Thoughts and prayers with his family and loved ones.
What sad news! What a lovely man, but also a really intelligent and thoughtful one. He will be missed very much.
I always regarded Michael as a great example of liberalism in practice. His words of wisdom will be greatly missed.
Michael Meadowcroft, was part of the soul of the Liberal Party. He was an inspiration for many of a certain generation. May we all remember him with gratitude.
Very sorry to hear this news. Michael was someone we could always rely on to express a true Liberal view. His knowledge of the modern party was huge.
So sorry to hear this. I remember when he rejoined the party after delivering the Viv Bingham Memorial Address at NW Conference. A really bright and engaging man.
I knew Michael for over 54 years. Michael eventually joined the LibDems in 2006. I should know, I signed him up! I always found his writing inspirational and his Liberalism encouraged me to keep going even when times were hard. We disagreed on quite a lot but it was never personal. In my over 5 years in Leeds I spent time with Michael and he was a great support in fighting both council seats and when my late wife Ruth fought Leeds West in 2010. We started a regular discussion supper, often at Michael and Liz’s house as part of a desire to encourage discussion and debate. And I remember the many times I saw and enjoyed Grannie Lee’s All Stars, memorably in the Blackpool Tower at a Liberal Assembly.
A life lived to the full, with passion and zeal for Liberalism
Very sad news. I remember many a lively evening of erudite discussion in Leeds – Michael was a true intellect – and a genuinely warm soul. My condolences to his family and friends.
It is such sad news. I was lucky to get to know Micheal over the last few years (working on a book project for the John Stuart Mill Institute). He reaffirmed for me what Liberalism could be; radical, generous and full of idealism. I will miss Micheal’s humour and wisdom, and of course his many stories working for and alongside Jo Grimond.
I’m no-longer in the LibDems, having migrated to the Greens. But whatever my party affiliation, I’m a Liberal (I hope in Micheal’s pattern). It’s been wonderful and deeply moving reading all these recollections. He will be sorely missed.
A point that seems to have been missed so far is that Michael was a very competent and able historian and was on the Committee of the Liberal Democrat History Group. His historical knowledge (don’t forget he was a Whip when in parliament) was immense, and I’m pleased to say his impressive collection of papers is now in the LSE Library for budding students to peruse.
Over the years (I first met Michael back in 1963 when we had side by side offices at Party HQ in Victoria Street), we had a number of conversations about the collapse of the old Liberal Party back in 1924, and readers of LDV may be interested to read his article about the failure of the Whips at that time in the LD History journal.
Here’s the title :
Michael Meadowcroft : Journal of Liberal History Issue 100 The 1924 Labour Government and the failure of the Whips
As well as being at the heart of the best Assembly/Conference coffee room conversations, Michael was for me the best compass we had over half a century. His leaving caused much soul searching and his return much rejoicing.
I first worked with Michael on his three pamphlets published in the mid-1980s by Liberator and mentioned above by Geoffrey Payne.
He was, obviously, an effectve political ‘doer’ holding an urban council ward for a long time and a parliamentary seat for four years.
There was another facet to his post-parliamentary carer in advising on democractic transitions around the world – I recall he had some hair raising stories about the Central African Republic!
More than that, Michael was one of the vanishingly small number of serious liberal thinkers in the party, someone who not only understood liberalism but could articulate its relevance to most issues.
I first met Michael in the Ripon By-Election in the mid seventies when Leeds Bookseller David Austwick won the seat . He was a good friend and adviser when I was first elected at a councillor fifty years ago. We last spoke late last year when we met at the National Liberal Club. He was a vice President of the club and I believe its longest standing member. He will be missed by many in the party, but in Yorkshire in particular.