David Steel
| David Steel | |
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| Name | David Martin Scott Steel (born 31 March, 1938) |
| Nicknames | The Boy David (Michael Foot, the press), Shorty (fictional David Owen), Wee David (fandom), Hamtaro (fandom) |
| Politics | |
| Party | Liberal, then Liberal Democrat |
| Constituency | Lothians, Scottish Parliament (1999 - 2003) Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (1983 - 1997) Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (24 March, 1965 - 1983 |
| Positions | • Leader of the Liberal Party (7 July 1976 – 16 July 1988) |
| Likes | David Owen, optimism, striped shirts with white collars |
| Dislikes | Racism, Tories |
| Friends | Paddy Ashdown, small woodland creatures, David Owen? |
| Enemies | David Owen, Roy Jenkins |
| Relationships | |
| Partners | Judy Steel (1962 - present) |
| Children | Billy (?, adopted), Graeme (1966), Catriona, (1968), and Rory (1973) |
| Personal Attributes | |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Religion | Church of Scotland |
| Sexuality | Straight |
| Height | 5' 8" |
| Eye Colour | Blue |
| Handedness | Right |
| Accent | Scottish |
| Languages | A bit of Swahili |
He's passed from rising hope to elder statesman without any intervening period whatsoever.~ Michael Foot
Although his accomplishments include legalizing abortion and presiding over a modest revival of the fortunes of the decrepit Liberal Party during the 1980s, David Steel is best known in fandom for being adorable. With his unbounded optimism, his diminutive stature, his sparkling blue eyes and his tendency to smile hugely at anything that makes him happy, most often his emotionally abusive political partner David Owen, David Steel is the easy winner of the "Politician most likely to star as the uke in a shōnen-ai anime series" contest, and the fangirls lap it up. A few disgruntled colleagues have suggested that a Machiavellian mind lurks behind David's fluffy exterior, but the reality behind his success is probably something less sinister: in a world where almost everyone is a scheming, egotistical bastard, David really does have the personality of a Disney princess, and the voters responded to his sweetness and sincerity. Just not enough of them to make him Prime Minister.
Life and Career[edit | edit source]
Early Life[edit | edit source]
David was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, to Church of Scotland minister David Steel and his wife Sheila. He was the oldest of five children, and was soon joined by brother Michael, sisters Felicity and Gillian, and finally baby brother Ian. As a child he attended Dumbarton Academy and James Gillespies Boys' School in Edinburgh. When David was eleven the family packed up and moved to Kenya, a memorable trip involving a voyage on an ocean liner and young David's first encounter with a banana. The Rev. Steel became the minister for Kenya, Uganda and Tanginyka, presiding over a new church in central Nairobi and taking the family on long, dusty road trips into the bush to visit the colonial plantations and mission stations scattered across his vast parish.
David attended the Prince of Wales School in Nairobi. Like his father's church, it was strictly segregated, for the children of white colonists only. Most of his schoolmates had no contact with African children, and the injustice of the system left a lasting impression on young David, who would one day become one of the leading lights of the Anti-Apartheid Movement. He wasn't the only one becoming politicized. The Steels had arrived in Kenya at a dangerous time, the onset of the bloody Mau Mau rebellion. African frustrations with the colonial land grab that had made them second class citizens in their own country had finally boiled over into a violent uprising. Conditions became so dangerous that when the Steels returned to Kenya in 1953 after three months' leave in Scotland, they left fifteen-year-old David and his oldest brother Michael behind, sending them to complete their schooling at George Watson's College in Edinburgh.
David would not see his father again for four years, but the Rev. Steel's actions would shape his son's politics. The senior David Steel was very much an establishment figure- his sermons were broadcast every other Sunday on the colonial radio channel, and the then Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh paid a visit to his church on a trip to the colonies. But he was increasingly distressed by the brutal repression of the uprising being carried out by the colonial government, with murders, torture, and tens of thousands of Africans being detained in unsanitary concentration camps without trial. After months of ineffectually lobbying the government in private, he gave a public sermon denouncing the repression, a courageous act now regarded to be one of the turning points of the rebellion. Young David, watching from Scotland, learned the importance of speaking out for justice and compassion no matter how unpopular the cause, values that would serve him well in his chosen vocation.
He went on to attend Edinburgh University, graduating with an MA in 1960 and a law degree in 1962. David was a mediocre student, being more interested in politics than studying, but no one can claim he didn't accomplish anything at university. Before he graduated he had joined the Liberal Club and the Scottish Liberal Party, been elected Chairman of the Students' Representative Council, run a successful campaign to install Liberal leader Jo Grimond as the university's rector, and perhaps not coincidentally got himself selected as the Liberal candidate for the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency, not to mention meeting and marrying fellow law student Judy MacGregor.
Early Political Career[edit | edit source]
The Scottish Liberals were impressed with David's energy and immediately hired him as their Assistant General Secretary. In 1963 an opening arose for a Liberal candidate in the more winnable Borders constituency of Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles, and for the first and quite possibly the last time in his career, David read the political climate right and jumped ship. He was narrowly defeated by the elderly Conservative incumbent C. E. M. Donaldson in the1964 general election, but David dramatically reduced his majority in the once safe Tory seat and made a favourable impression on the locals.
Confident of a victory in the next election, he moved into the constituency and began working as a current affairs presenter for the BBC. His one and only non-political job lasted for less than six months. When Donaldson died just two months into the new Parliament, David sailed to an easy victory in the subsequent by-election. It was a humiliating defeat for the Conservatives, who had assumed their status as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and regional sympathy for their Scottish leader Alec Douglas-Home would keep them from getting trounced, and it brought David to national prominence.
On the Back Benches[edit | edit source]
Relaxed, urbane, and gorgeous-looking- 'a bit dishy,' as the younger generation would say- and raunchy, and a little bit on the spunky side.~ Dame Edna
At the tender age of twenty-six, David was the Baby of the House, the youngest serving MP, but he didn't let his youth stop him from getting things done. With his election he'd already struck the first major blow dealt by the Liberals to either major party in decades, and he was rewarded for his success with the position of Liberal employment spokesman, a swift promotion that sounds impressive until one reflects that the parliamentary Liberal Party consisted of a whopping ten MPs, not even enough to shadow the entire Cabinet. Never one to let the grim mathematics of the ballot box stand in his way, David soon left his legislative mark by tabling the Abortion Rights Act and steering the controversial bill through parliament. Although it was a Private Member's Bill, it was backed by the Labour Government, and David had considerable aid from Home Secretary Roy Jenkins in getting it passed, an experience which may have whet both their appetites for future cross-party collaboration.
The purpose of the bill was to eliminate the death and suffering caused by illegal back alley abortions, a problem which had been recognized for decades but which no previous government had wanted to touch. The Wilson Government wasn't ecstatic about it either- Roy gently hinted to David that perhaps he might like to work on legalizing homosexuality instead[1] - but David's constituency office told him abortion would be risky enough in his conservative seat but gay rights were absolutely out of the question. David stuck to his guns, and the Government reluctantly lent him its support, setting up a medical advisory committee chaired by the President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to examine the issue. The committee came out in favour of the bill, and the House passed it with a free vote. Although David would go on to lead his party for more than a decade and preside over the birth of the Liberal Democrats, the Abortion Act of 1967 is perhaps his most lasting achievement.
In 1967 David was appointed the Liberal spokesman on Commonwealth affairs, and despite his distasteful support for women's rights he managed to survive the 1970 election, although his healthy 1966 majority of 2,211 dwindled to a mere 550. After the election he was made the Liberal's Chief Whip. Since the Liberals lacked both the principle of party discipline and a large parliamentary party to apply it to, the whip
| Full List of Appointments |
|---|
| • Employment Spokesman (March 1965 - January 1967) |
| • Commonwealth Affairs Spokesman (January 1967 - June 1970) |
| • Chief Whip (June 1970 - February 1975) |
| • Foreign Affairs Spokesman (February 1975 - 76) |
| • Foreign Affairs Spokesman (1989-94) |
Personal Life[edit | edit source]
Appearance[edit | edit source]
He did not much like the way that Spitting Image portrayed him, blaming them for the downturn in his career and complaining to anyone who would listen: "It's totally outrageous! I'm half an inch taller than Neil Kinnock!"[2]
Fandom has a slightly more flattering interpretation of him...
