26 Facts About David Penhaligon

David Charles Penhaligon was a British politician from Cornwall who was Liberal Member of Parliament for Truro from October 1974 until his death in 1986.

David Penhaligon was a popular figure in all parties, and was seen by many as a potential future front-runner for the party leadership until his sudden death in a traffic collision.

David Penhaligon attended Truro School, and then Cornwall Technical College where he studied mechanical engineering.

David Penhaligon worked for Holman Brothers in Camborne as a research and development engineer working on rock drilling.

David Penhaligon's decision to join the Liberal Party was inspired in 1963 when, aged 19, he was an important witness to a murder case.

David Penhaligon led the Truro Young Liberals and built up the local party into one of the strongest; he was the chair of the Cornish Young Liberals from 1966 to 1968.

David Penhaligon polled poorly in the context of an election in which the party as a whole suffered.

However, David Penhaligon had acquired useful experience of fighting election campaigns and picked up additional tips from Wallace Lawler's practices in inner-city Birmingham.

In 1971, David Penhaligon was easily selected as candidate for Truro, a seat which did not look an easier prospect than Totnes.

David Penhaligon was readopted and worked on trying to persuade the remaining Labour voters in the seat to back him.

David Penhaligon voted for fellow Cornish MP John Pardoe over David Steel in the Liberal leadership election of 1976.

David Penhaligon was hard to place in conventional political terms: he changed his mind over capital punishment, initially voting against in December 1974, but supporting it in December 1975.

David Penhaligon became known in particular for defending the Cornish tin mining industry and the local fishing fleets.

David Penhaligon spoke with conviction and knowledge about the problems of rural areas in Cornwall with road fuel costs and inadequate infrastructure.

David Penhaligon later came round and told the Liberal Assembly in September 1977 that it had achieved an 'economic revolution'.

The pact allowed the Liberals to influence government legislation and David Penhaligon objected to proposals from Tony Benn for an Electricity Industry Bill which would centralise control, which single-handedly prevented any progress.

The scandal over former party leader Jeremy Thorpe, who was charged with conspiracy to murder in August 1978, was a matter of particular concern and David Penhaligon urged Thorpe to stand down and the Liberal Party not to endorse him.

When Thorpe did seek re-election, David Penhaligon refused to help his campaign.

David Penhaligon was named in January 1982 as one of the 'firemen' who would sort out any disagreements between the parties.

From 1983 David Penhaligon headed the Liberal by-election unit which planned the campaigns in individual seats.

David Penhaligon was appointed as Chief spokesman on the economy in 1985; though admitting he had no financial experience, he challenged the Conservative policy on privatisation and monetarism.

David Penhaligon was a central figure in planning the Alliance general election campaign at the time of his death.

The inquest held in March 1987 strongly suggested that David Penhaligon was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, nor was the driver of the van, who was thrown out of his vehicle and suffered two broken legs as a result.

David Penhaligon's injuries were extensive fracture of his ribs and fracture of the neck vertebrae.

From July 1986, David Penhaligon had employed Matthew Taylor, a University of Oxford graduate, as his research assistant on the economy; Taylor was selected to follow him as Liberal candidate for Truro and was duly returned in the 1987 Truro by-election.

David Penhaligon's widow wrote his biography in 1989; his son Matthew has previously been an active member of the Liberal Democrats and was the party's candidate for the Mayoralty of Hackney in May 2006.