Type                   

2nd Lines

05 - 19.23%

Tribal - Ego Gates

Collective - Understanding Channels

 Sir David Owen - Generator - Biography

Sir David Owen (b. Plymouth, 2 July 1938) was British Foreign Secretary 1977 – 9, leader of the Social Democratic Party 1983 – 8; Baron (life peer) 1992.

David Owen studied medicine at Cambridge and practised for a short time. He became an MP by winning Plymouth Sutton for Labour in 1966. He held this seat until February 1974 when it was largely reorganized as Plymouth Devonport, and remained its MP until he stepped down in 1992.

David Owen was given junior posts in health in the 1974 Labour government. He served for a year as No. 2 at the Foreign Office in 1976 and then succeeded Antony Crosland as Foreign Secretary, when the latter died suddenly in 1977. This was an unexpected promotion for someone aged 39. Immediately he was talked of as a future leader of the Labour Party.

Owen was one of the original "Gang of Four" which left the Labour Party to set up the Social Democratic Party in 1981. Owen probably had more to lose in career terms than the others. He was unhappy with the direction that Labour was taking, including the election of the party leader by a largely extra-parliamentary electoral college, its growing hostility to the European Community (he had resigned from the shadow Cabinet in 1972 on this issue), and its steady move to a unilateralist defence policy.

He and Roy Jenkins contested the leadership of the new party. Owen was runner-up and became deputy leader. He was no admirer of Roy Jenkins and when the latter resigned the leadership after the 1983 general election, Owen was elected unopposed.

Owen was a jealous guardian of the SDP's independence during negotiations for an alliance with the Liberals in the 1983 parliament. The 1987 election campaign was not a happy experience. Far from there being an agreed strategy between the two Davids — Steel of the Liberals and Owen — the two went their own ways. Journalists gleefully played the game of "hunt the split". While many Liberals talked of the possibility of an Alliance government, he dismissed such talk and campaigned for a hung parliament. He was still strongly anti-Labour and eager to dispel impressions that a vote for the Alliance might provide a backdoor entry for a Labour government. He admired Mrs Thatcher as a leader more than Neil Kinnock.

Following the election there were moves in both parties to effect a merger. Owen resisted, but when a ballot of SDP members showed strong support, he immediately resigned. He was elected leader of the rump of the SDP in 1988. In 1991 he met with John Major and promised to declare his support if the Conservatives gave a clear run in the next general election to the two remaining SDP MPs. This was not possible. In the 1992 general election Owen still declared his support for the Conservative Party.

As a member of the House of Lords, Owen played a roving role as an international statesman. For some time he was engaged in trying to promote peace efforts in former Yugoslavia.

Owen was a headstrong character. He left the Labour Party, helped to split the SDP, and rejected any new merger. The SDP soon collapsed. He had a cross-bench mind, supporting a strong stand on defence and foreign policy while also supporting social market policies. His memoirs, Time to Declare, were published in 1991.