biography
| name: |
Owen (of the City of Plymouth), David (Anthony Llewellyn), Baron
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1938– )
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| biography:
| British statesman, born in Plymouth, Devon, SW England, UK. He studied at Cambridge and London, trained in medicine, then became Labour MP for Plymouth (1966). He was under-secretary to the navy (1968), secretary for health (1974–6), and foreign secretary (1977–9). One of the so-called ‘Gang of Four’ who formed the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981, he succeeded Roy Jenkins as its leader in 1983. Following the Alliance's disappointing result in the 1987 general election, he opposed Liberal leader David Steel over the question of the merger of the two parties. In 1988, after the SDP voted to accept merger, he led the smaller section of the Party to a short independent existence. He retired from parliament and was created a peer in 1992. With Cyrus Vance he was appointed by the UN to try to establish peace between the warring factions in former Yugoslavia (1992–3). He was made a Companion of Honour in 1994. In 1998 he launched a campaign against the proposed entry of Britain into European monetary union. He is Chancellor of Liverpool University. |
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