30 Facts About Michael Meadowcroft

Michael James Meadowcroft was born on 6 March 1942 and is a British author, politician and political affairs consultant.

Michael Meadowcroft served as the Member of Parliament for Leeds West from 1983 to 1987.

Michael Meadowcroft became Chairman of the Merseyside Region of the National League of Young Liberals in 1961.

Between 1962 and 1967, Michael Meadowcroft worked for the Liberal Party and became the party's Local Government Officer.

Michael Meadowcroft led the Liberal Group on the council for a large part of his time as a city councillor.

Michael Meadowcroft served as a member of West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council from 1973 to 1976 and again from 1981 to 1983.

Michael Meadowcroft held many roles within the party, including the chair of the Liberal Party Assembly committee responsible for organising the party's conferences.

Michael Meadowcroft authored a number of influential pamphlets championing liberal philosophy and the principles of community politics.

Michael Meadowcroft stood unsuccessfully in Leeds West for the Liberals in the general elections of February 1974 and October 1974 before winning in 1983, defeating Labour MP Joseph Dean.

Michael Meadowcroft wrote in an opinion piece in October 1986: "my seniors in the party suspect that some of my opinions are quite unorthodox: indeed, are positively heretical".

Michael Meadowcroft was amongst those in the Liberal Party who criticised leader David Steel's compromises with the SDP over defence policy and favoured nuclear disarmament.

Michael Meadowcroft favoured a European defence policy, independent of both the United States and the Soviet Union, and without nuclear weapons.

Michael Meadowcroft said that they had been assured that the Alliance's joint report on defence would not be published around the same time as their paper and that this promise had not been kept.

Michael Meadowcroft later served as party spokesman on local government and on housing, in particular highlighting the problems of rising housing costs in the south-east of England.

Michael Meadowcroft was defeated in the 1987 general election by Labour candidate John Battle.

Michael Meadowcroft is a member of the Society's governing council.

Michael Meadowcroft was on the team to discuss the Liberal Party's merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988.

Michael Meadowcroft was the first of several Liberals to walk out of the negotiations, citing the commitment to NATO in the constitutional preamble for the merged party.

Michael Meadowcroft argued for a "No" vote to the merger at the special Liberal Assembly in Blackpool, but the vote went in favour of merger by 2099 votes to 385, with 23 abstentions.

Michael Meadowcroft briefly stayed with the Social and Liberal Democrats to support Alan Beith's candidacy for leader.

Michael Meadowcroft stood against John Battle again in Leeds West in 1992 as the Liberal Party candidate.

Michael Meadowcroft finished in fourth place, behind Battle, Paul Bartlett of the Conservative Party and Liberal Democrat candidate Viscount Morpeth.

On 5 October 2007, it was announced that Michael Meadowcroft had joined the Liberal Democrats, citing the party's opposition to the Iraq War, its rejection of the identity cards policy and their commitment to a united Europe.

Michael Meadowcroft was one of the few senior Liberal Democrats to defend Bradford East MP David Ward, who was expelled from the party in 2017 over comments critical of Israel and Zionism.

Michael Meadowcroft was interviewed as part of the programme The Paedophile MP: How Cyril Smith Got Away With It, in Channel 4's Dispatches series, in which he said that he had heard that Cyril Smith liked boys but considered these "symptomatic of the unpleasant gossip that permeated Westminster".

In 2015, Michael Meadowcroft was interviewed by Greater Manchester Police on his knowledge of Cyril Smith.

Michael Meadowcroft disclosed that, after the Dispatches programme of September 2013, he was e-mailed by a Jill Pratt about how she had reported allegations against Cyril Smith to the Liberal Party's leadership in 1970.

Michael Meadowcroft has published a large number of books and pamphlets on his views.

Michael Meadowcroft has regularly argued for the importance of political philosophy and that the members of the Liberal Democrats require more conviction in their beliefs.

Michael Meadowcroft is a member of the world citizenship movement and supports a democratically constituted world government.