21 Facts About Reginald Bevins

John Reginald Bevins was a British Conservative politician who served as a Liverpool Member of Parliament for fourteen years.

Reginald Bevins served in the governments of the 1950s and 1960s, playing an important role in establishing independent television.

Reginald Bevins was educated at the Dovedale Road School and then at Liverpool Collegiate School.

Reginald Bevins joined the insurance business, and became interested in politics: he joined the Labour Party.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Reginald Bevins enlisted in the Royal Artillery.

Reginald Bevins served as a gunner in 1940, and was stationed in the middle-east and in Europe.

Reginald Bevins completed his tour of duty as a Major in the Royal Army Service Corps, and became a strong supporter of the Conservative Party.

Reginald Bevins was chosen to run for the West Toxteth division Labour-held seat; he lost by 4,814 votes, on a pro-Labour swing much less than the national average.

Reginald Bevins, who remained on the City Council after his change of parties, became a popular figure in the Liverpool Conservative Association.

Reginald Bevins was chosen to attempt to retain the new seat for the Conservatives.

Reginald Bevins succeeded in the 1950 general election by 2,620 votes.

Reginald Bevins had a key role in guiding through Parliament the Rent Act 1957, which removed rent control and was highly controversial.

Reginald Bevins was, like Macmillan, a supporter of commercial television, which many in the Conservative Party then regarded as un-British.

Reginald Bevins had guidance from a friend of Macmillan, Norman Collins, who was involved in Associated TeleVision.

Reginald Bevins had a delicate role as the potential profitability of the new entertainment medium was high; Reginald Bevins observed that when Lord Thomson said commercial television was "a licence to print money", he had been more indiscreet than inaccurate.

In November 1962, Reginald Bevins was telephoned by journalists who asked him about the new BBC satire programme That Was The Week That Was; Reginald Bevins said he intended to do something about it.

Reginald Bevins moved to increase security, but resisted calls to have armed police guarding the trains.

At the 1964 general election, Reginald Bevins lost his marginal seat.

Reginald Bevins immediately declared he would have no further political involvement until the upper-class establishment was removed from the Conservative leadership.

Reginald Bevins knew he would have no chance of a comeback in politics and wrote a book called The Greasy Pole, which laid bare his bitterness with his treatment.

Reginald Bevins called for reforms of Parliamentary procedure to reduce the Parliamentary week to three days and to sit for only 20 weeks in the year.