William Rodgers

From Lolitics Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
William Rodgers

William Rodgers.Portrait.jpg

Name William Thomas Rodgers (born 28 October, 1928)
Nicknames Bill (everyone)
Politics
Party Liberal Democrat (1988 and after)
SDP (1981-1988)
Labour (until 1981)
Constituency Stockton-on-Tees (5 April, 1962 - 9 June, 1983)
Positions • Liberal Democrat Leader in the House of Lords (1998-2001)
• SDP Vice-President (1982-1987)
• SDP Joint Founder (1981)
• Shadow Secretary of State for Defense (1979-1980)
• Secretary of State for Transport (1976-1979)
Likes Europe, Gaitskellism
Dislikes Trotskyism, insect bites
Friends Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams
Enemies ?
Relationships
Partners Silvia Szulman (1954 - present)
Children Rachel (?), Lucy (?), Juliet (?)
Personal Attributes
Nationality English
Religion ?
Sexuality Straight
Height ?
Eye Colour ?
Handedness ?
Accent Very slightly Liverpudlian
Languages ?

Distinguished Liberal Democrat peer, Europhile, and most-frequently-ignored quarter of the Gang of Four.

Life and Career[edit | edit source]

Early Life[edit | edit source]

Well on his way to greatness, though not major developments in motor skills

William Rodgers was born to William and Gertrude (“Gert”) Rodgers, the younger of two brothers (his mother's first pregnancy resulted in a stillborn girl, and his brother Peter was born in 1924), and grew up in Liverpool, the son of a clerk. He studied history at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he joined the Labour Club and Oxford Union, meeting and befriending Shirley Williams (then Catlin) through the former.

One highly important fact to note here is that his handwriting is so crap he was called in to read his final papers out loud to a typist because the examiners couldn’t decipher them. He didn’t have complete success in achieving this himself and found the whole experience of reading out his exam answers (by then a few days old) to a typist and invigilator understandably embarrassing. Probably unrelatedly, he "was never a serious candidate for a First."

Pre-political Career[edit | edit source]

After Oxford, he was accepted to a post as Assistant Secretary of the Fabian Society, which he served for two years before being promoted to General Secretary, while writing and lecturing on the side.

Early Political Career[edit | edit source]

Rodgers fought three unsuccessful by-elections in the 1950s (including one for Bristol West while nursing a distinct case of jaundice) before being selected for Stockton in 1962. He describes the thrill of victory and the adoration of his constituents:

As I walked around the centre of Stockton on the Friday morning, glowing with success, I found life remarkably normal and no queue of people waiting to shake my hand. But one woman, carrying her shopping basket, stopped me. "Mr Rodgers?" she enquired, and I smiled warmly. "I just want you to remember that yesterday more voters wanted someone else as their MP than wanted you. Good morning." She was, of course, right. With 45.2 per cent I had less than half the vote. I was not really the toast of Stockton after all.

But he won the good people of Stockton’s love surely enough, as he retained his seat for over twenty years.

Parliamentary Career[edit | edit source]

Swag: a gift you never lose

Perhaps most famously, Rodgers was one-quarter of the Gang of Four who launched the Social Democratic Party in 1981 (and previously one-third of the Gang of Three who issued a public statement warning Labour to get its act together or they might seriously consider launching a new party for social democracy or something). He was quite close to Roy Jenkins and had been full of sadness when Jenkins left for Brussels to be President of the European Commission in 1976, and had been friends with Shirley Williams since Oxford. Relations with David Owen were, as they were for most people, rather more strained, but they generally maintained a decent working relationship and appear to be back on relatively good terms with each other.

When they issued the Limehouse Declaration, Roy was already wearing a suit, and David and Shirley changed into nice things for the press. Bill decided his woolly jumper and no tie would be just fine, thanks. Badass.

Part of the SDP’s first by-election campaign strategy involved Bill dicking around with a loudspeaker, “as a one-man Greek chorus commenting on the passing scene and treating politics as entertainment,” sometimes doing a double-act with Shirley. Which has to at least be in the running for “most adorable campaign tactic ever”.

William Rodgers.BaronBill.jpg

Like Shirley and Roy, he was very much in favour of merging with the Liberals in 1987 and chaired the “Yes to Unity” campaign. After failing to win a new constituency in the 1987 election, he worked outside politics until receiving his life peerage in 1992, becoming Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank.

Full List of Appointments
• Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State: Department of Economic Affairs (1964-1967)
• Foreign Office/Leader of the UK Delegation to the Council of Europe and WEU (1967-1968)
• Minister of State: Board of Trade (1968-1969)
• HM Treasury (1969-1970)
• Ministry of Defence (1974-1976)
• Secretary of State for Transport (1976-1979)
• Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (1979-1980)
• Vice-President of the SDP (1982-1987)
• Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home Affairs in the Lords (1994-1997)
• Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Lords (1998-2001)

Personal Life[edit | edit source]

Rodgers met Silvia Szulman at the age of 25. She was the daughter of Polish Jews who had fled to Weimar Berlin, and then to London in 1939. He noted her “disposition to stand [him] up in argument, which most of [his] recent girlfriends had lacked”; their first such argument was about whether trains are for engaging with other people, or keeping to yourself with a book (she took the former position, he the latter). They married eighteen months later, and now have three daughters and six grandchildren.

Appearance[edit | edit source]

He once described himself as looking like a “lugubrious spaniel” when made to ride a motorcycle for publicity.

I make no further comment.

Portrayal[edit | edit source]

In the Media[edit | edit source]

Unfortunately, Bill tends to get overshadowed by the other three-quarters of the Gang of Four, leading to his formulating the most self-deprecating title for an autobiography ever, Fourth Among Equals. He’s not the pretty one, he’s not the elder statesman, and he’s not the girl. He’s just Bill, and he didn’t even get a Spitting Image puppet.

In Fanon[edit | edit source]

To date, he has starred in zero fanfics, which probably comes as a surprise to exactly no one. However, this is rather a shame, as he seems to have had a bit of a crush on all of his SDP colleagues, describing Shirley’s voice as “seductive” and David as “attractive” for his “insouciance and arrogance", and devoting considerable energy to explaining his sadness upon Roy’s departure for Brussels, citing as among the things he would miss, “the occasional breakfast on the terrace by the Thames on a soft summer morning after an all-night sitting”. Poor, lonely Bill.

... Or IS he?