page_title: Cledwyn Hughes, Baron Cledwyn of Penrhos
section_title: Early parliamentary career
hierarchical_section_title: Cledwyn Hughes, Baron Cledwyn of Penrhos / Early parliamentary career
caption_attribution_description: English: Memorial tablet at the Brecon Beacons Mountain Centre (the National Park Visitor Centre managed by the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority) near Libanus, Powys, Wales
context_page_description: Cledwyn Hughes, Baron Cledwyn of Penrhos, CH, PC was a Welsh Labour politician, usually associated with the moderate wing of the party. He was also regarded, particularly in later years, as a non-political figure of stature in Wales having held posts of importance in bodies such as the University of Wales.
context_section_description: In his maiden speech on 8 November 1951, Hughes addressed a number of issues that would recur during his parliamentary career, including the deficiencies of housing on Anglesey, the case for devolution in Wales, and his concerns about the future of the Welsh language.
  In his first term as MP for Anglesey, Hughes placed considerable emphasis on attracting new jobs to the island. He was acutely aware that a large proportion of the young people were obliged to leave Anglesey to look for work, and Hughes was active in the process of securing the Wylfa nuclear power station and later an aluminium smelter project to be located on the island. Such efforts contributed to an increase in his majority to 4,568 at the 1955 General Election.
  During his early parliamentary career, Hughes concentrated on Welsh issues. Together with a number of other Welsh-speaking Labour MPs, he supported the Parliament for Wales Campaign. In 1955, he seconded a bill proposed by S.O. Davies in favour of such a parliament but it was supported by only fourteen members of the Commons. A national petition was launched in 1956, which resulted in his being reported to the Labour national executive by the south-Wales-dominated Welsh Council of Labour. Following the failure of this campaign, Hughes supported efforts to secure a Secretary of State for Wales and this became Labour's official policy by the 1959 General Election.
  In 1957 he was appointed to the Public Accounts Committee. In the following year he conducted a month-long visit to St Helena on behalf of the Labour Party. Hughes was the first MP to visit the island since it was ceded to the British Government by the East India Company in 1843. Hughes submitted a highly critical report describing the "appalling poverty" of the island's inhabitants and assisted with the establishment of the island's first trade union. This visit established Hughes's reputation as a politician actively involved with the affairs of the Commonwealth.
  In 1959, Hugh Gaitskell appointed Hughes as a shadow spokesman on housing and local government.
  When Labour came to power in 1964, Hughes was appointed Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations and this turned out to be an inspired appointment which Harold Wilson considered to be "one of the Government's outstanding successes". During his two years in post Hughes was heavily involved with decolonization and represented the British Government at the independence celebrations of Malta, Kenya and the Gambia. His negotiating skills were tested by conflicts within the Commonwealth, notably in Cyprus, Malaysia and the Indian sub-continent where Hughes negotiated a cease-fire between India and Pakistan following a military conflict in the Rann of Kutch during June 1965. Hughes was also involved in the negotiations to avert a unilateral declaration of independence in Southern Rhodesia. In July 1965, he visited Salisbury for talks with Ian Smith, but these were unsuccessful and Smith declared UDI the following November.
caption: Tablet at the Brecon Beacons Mountain Centre with references to Cledwyn Hughes and Tudor Watkins
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