Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Herbert William
Bowden, Baron Aylestone, CH CBE PC (20 January 1905 - 30 April 1994) was
a British Labour politician. Born in Cardiff, Wales, Bowden was a
councillor on Leicester City Council 1938-45 and president of Leicester
Labour Party in 1938. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War
II. He was elected at the 1945 general election for South Leicester,
taking South-West Leicester at the 1950 election. He was appointed a
whip in 1949 and a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in 1950. From 1951,
he was Deputy Chief Whip, then Chief Whip through Labour's years in
opposition. When Labour returned to power in 1964, Bowden was appointed
Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, having
become a Privy Counsellor in 1962. In 1966 he was moved to the new post
of Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs, serving until 1967. In
September 1967, he was made a life peer as Baron Aylestone, of Aylestone
in the City of Leicester and became chairman of the Independent
Television Authority. He was made a member of the Order of the
Companions of Honour in 1975. He joined the Social Democratic Party in
the 1980s.
