Frank Byers

The Right Honourable The Lord Byers OBE, PC, DL
Member of Parliament for North Dorset
In office 5 July 1945 – 23 February 1950
Preceded by	Angus Hambro
Succeeded by	Robert Crouch
Personal details
Born	Charles Frank Byers 24 July 1915 Wallasey, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Died	6 February 1984 (aged 68) Westminster, London, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Joan Oliver (1939-1984; his death)
Children	4
Occupation	Politician

Charles Frank Byers, Baron Byers, OBE, PC, DL (24 July 1915 – 6 February 1984) was a British Liberal Party politician.

Background

Byers was born in Wallasey, Cheshire. He was the son of Charles Cecil Byers (1888-1957), a Lloyd's underwriter, who was Liberal candidate for Westbury at the 1935 general election. He moved with the family to Potters Bar and was educated at Westminster School, followed by Christ Church, Oxford, where he won a Blue for athletics. At Oxford he was president of the Union of Liberal Students and president of the University Liberal Club. His treasurer was Harold Wilson, later Labour Party prime minister. Byers was also an exchange scholar at Milton Academy, Massachusetts.^[1] While at the University of Oxford, where he gained his degree in PPE, he met Joan Oliver, whom he married in 1939. They had a son and three daughters. Joan Oliver was a committed Liberal in her own right and was a constant help to her husband during his political career.

Byers was admitted to Grays Inn^[2] after university, but broke off his legal education to enlist. During World War II, Byers served in the Royal Artillery, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and for a time serving on Field Marshal Montgomery's staff. He was mentioned in dispatches three times, was created a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, was awarded the Croix de Guerre. In 1944 he was made an OBE.

In the 1945 general election, Byers gained the formerly Conservative seat of North Dorset, although the absence of a Labour candidate was a key factor in this success. In 1946, Byers was appointed Liberal Chief Whip^[3] and gained a reputation for hard work and effective organisation both in parliament and at Liberal Party headquarters.^[4] However he was unable to hold North Dorset in 1950, losing by just 97 votes to the Conservatives following Labour's decision to stand a candidate. He unsuccessfully tried to re-enter the House of Commons in 1960 at the Bolton East by-election.

In 1964, Byers was made a life peer^[5] and three years later he became leader of the Liberal peers. He was created a Privy Councillor in 1972.^[6]

Outside Parliament, Byers was a businessman, a director of Rio Tinto Zinc from 1962–73 and a broadcaster.^[7] He died of a heart attack on 6 February 1984.^[8] A memorial service was held for Lord Byers in Westminster Abbey on 5 April 1984.^[9] His daughter Louise married Dipak Nandy, an Indian businessman. Their daughter, Lisa Nandy, is a Labour MP.

References

1. Who was Who, OUP 2007
2. Wigoder, ‘Byers, (Charles) Frank, Baron Byers (1915–1984)’, rev., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
3. The Times, 21 March 1946
4. A History of the Liberal Party in the Twentieth Century, David Dutton, Palgrave Macmillan (2004) p.207
5. The Times, 23 December 1964
6. The Times, 3 June 1972
7. The Times, 6 August 1973
8. The Times, 7 February 1984 – obituary
9. The Times, 6 April 1984

Further reading

• Douglas, Roy (1998). Brack et al. (eds.), ed. Dictionary of Liberal Biography. Politico's.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Frank Byers