Difference between revisions of "Michael Steed"

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−	[[File:Michael Steed at Gateshead.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Michael Steed in 2012]]'''Michael Steed''' is a psephologist, political scientist, broadcaster, activist and [[Liberal Democrat]] politician. He was born in 1940 in Kent, where his father was a farmer. He has written extensively on parties and elections.	+	[[File:Michael Steed at Gateshead.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Michael Steed in 2012]]'''Michael Steed''' (1940-2023) was a psephologist, political scientist, broadcaster, activist and [[Liberal Democrat]] politician. He wrote extensively on parties and elections.
−	He was educated at St Lawrence College, [[Ramsgate]], and at Corpus Christi College, [[Cambridge]]. In 1960 the South African authorities refused him entry to Sharpeville to deliver food aid to victims of the Sharpeville shootings.<ref>"Not allowed in Sharpeville: Cambridge student barred", ''The Guardian'', London, 23 August 1960.</ref>	+	==Early life==
−	From 1963 to 1965 he undertook postgraduate research at Nuffield College, Oxford, under Dr David Butler. At the same time he was active in the Young Liberals, particularly on the issue of apartheid in South Africa.<ref>"Young Liberals protest to Home Secretary", ''The Guardian'', London, 30 March 1964.</ref> He became national Vice-Chairman of the Young Liberals.	+	Michael Steed was born in Kent, where his father was a farmer. He was educated at St Lawrence College, [[Ramsgate]] and at [[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]]. In 1960 the South African authorities refused him entry to Sharpeville to deliver food aid to victims of the Sharpeville shootings.<ref>"Not allowed in Sharpeville: Cambridge student barred", ''The Guardian'', London, 23 August 1960.</ref>
−	In 1966 he became Lecturer in Government at [[Manchester]] University, a post he held for many years until taking early retirement through ill health. As a psephologist he became a specialist in the detailed analysis of election results from a sociological point of view, for many years providing media such as ''The Observer'' and ''The Economist'' with texts making such complexities as "percentage swing" accessible to the lay reader.<ref>Eg Peter Pulzer and Michael Steed, "What your votes foretell", ''The Observer'', London, 12 April 1964.</ref> In the later 1960s and throughout the 1970s he made regular television appearances on "election night" programmes, often at the side of Bob McKenzie, who popularised the "swingometer" based on the concept of swing devised by David Butler.<ref>Eg "The Night of the Machines: Clive James on the BBC's great election spectacular", ''The Observer'', 13 October 1974.</ref> Steed was to develop a more complex formula for calculating swing, sometimes known among psephologists as "Steed swing" to differentiate it from "Butler swing".	+	From 1963 to 1965 he undertook postgraduate research at [[Nuffield College, Oxford]], under Dr David Butler. At the same time he was active in the Young Liberals, particularly on the issue of apartheid in South Africa.<ref>"Young Liberals protest to Home Secretary", ''The Guardian'', London, 30 March 1964</ref> He became national Vice-Chairman of the Young Liberals.
−	From 1964 until 2005, Steed - latterly in conjunction with John Curtice - was responsible for the statistical analysis in David Butler's regular Nuffield election studies entitled "The British General Election of ....".<ref>Richard Rose, "The Nuffield election studies come of age", ''The Times'', London, 27 October 1966, p 13</ref> <ref>David McKie, "A man with a franchise to unlock the secret of the ballot", ''The Guardian'', London, 15 April 1988</ref>	+	==Academic career==
−	Steed was a leading member of the "radical" wing of the Liberal Party which in the late 1960s and 1970s found itself at odds with the parliamentary party and its leader [[Jeremy Thorpe]] over a number of issues. In particular, Steed and his colleagues felt that "the party must shift attention away from personalities to a wide-ranging debate about ideology, principles and policies".<ref>"Liberal calls to end 'slanging': Leader will face his critics", ''The Times'', London, 17 June 1968, p.2.</ref> <ref>"Renewed challenge to Thorpe leadership", ''The Guardian'', London, 15 September 1969.</ref> He contributed several articles to the radical monthly, ''New Outlook''. For a time he was an elected member of the Party's national executive.	+	In 1966 he became Lecturer in Government at [[Manchester University]], a post he held for many years until taking early retirement through ill health. He lived for a while in [[Todmorden]] <ref> In 1974 he sold his house at 8 Longfield Road Todmorden to Chris Bowden-Smith. Subsequently Bowden-Smith moved to West Kirby and Tony Hancock moved in with Micky Gibberd (conversation Clifford Williams with Michael Steed)</ref>. As a psephologist he became a specialist in the detailed analysis of election results from a sociological point of view, for many years providing media such as ''The Observer'' and ''The Economist'' with texts making such complexities as "percentage swing" accessible to the lay reader.<ref>E.g. Peter Pulzer and Michael Steed, "What your votes foretell", ''The Observer'', London, 12 April 1964.</ref> In the later 1960s and throughout the 1970s he made regular television appearances on "election night" programmes, often at the side of Bob McKenzie, who popularised the "swingometer" based on the concept of swing devised by David Butler.<ref>Eg "The Night of the Machines: Clive James on the BBC's great election spectacular", ''The Observer'', 13 October 1974.</ref> Steed was to develop a more complex formula for calculating swing, sometimes known among psephologists as "Steed swing" to differentiate it from "Butler swing".
−	Michael Steed has always been an ardent pro-European, and his study of parties and elections soon came to embrace continental as well as UK politics. <ref>E.g. Michael Steed, "De Gaulle no longer a 'national' leader", ''The Guardian'', London, 23 December 1965.</ref> In 1969 he called for a common European currency.<ref>"Flexible pound urged", ''The Times'', London, 20 September 1969, p.15.</ref>	+	From 1964 until 2005, Steed - latterly in conjunction with John Curtice - was responsible for the statistical analysis in David Butler's regular Nuffield election studies entitled "The British General Election of ...".<ref>Richard Rose, "The Nuffield election studies come of age", ''The Times'', 27 October 1966, p 13</ref><ref>David McKie, "A man with a franchise to unlock the secret of the ballot", ''The Guardian'', London, 15 April 1988</ref>
−	At the 1971 Liberal Assembly, he successfully moved the major pro-European resolution, noting however that the then EEC, in which decisions were taken by "a secret cabal", must be made more democratic. National sovereignty, he argued, would "die away as a European democracy of widely diffused power was created and exercised at all levels" in "a close political union of the people of Europe".<ref>"Common Market poll rejected", ''The Guardian'', London, 18 September 1971.</ref> <ref>"Goal of unity in EEC", ''The Times'', 18 September 1971, p.23.</ref>	+	In 1989 Steed moved back to his native [[Kent]] where he was appointed Honorary Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. He has also been Senior Research Fellow of the Federal Trust.
		+	He was a Trustee of the Arthur McDougall Fund and of the Canterbury Commemoration Society, and a Vice-President of the Electoral Reform Society.
−	Michael Steed consistently called for wide-ranging constitutional reform, including devolution all round, with elected regional governments, a more proportional election system, and the abolition of a Prime Minister's right to dissolve Parliament on a whim.<ref>See e.g. Michael Steed, "Changing the rules of the general election game", ''The Times'', 19 June 1975, p.14. </ref> The last of this list of objectives was finally achieved by the Fixed Term Parliament Act passed in 2011. <ref>http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/14/contents/enacted Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011</ref>	+	==Political career==
−	He stood as Liberal Party candidate in the 1967 [[Brierley Hill]] by-election<ref>"Liberal choice is lecturer", ''The Guardian'', London, 8 April 1967.</ref> and the 1973 Manchester Exchange by-election, in which he pushed the Conservatives into a poor third place.<ref>John Chartres, "Domestic issues dominate by-election", ''The Times'', London, 14 June 1973, p.3.</ref> In the 1970 general election he was the party's candidate for [[Truro]]. In the February 1974 general election he stood in Manchester Central.<ref>''The Times'', London, 14 February 1974, p.7.</ref> In the 1979 European elections, he was the Liberal candidate for Greater Manchester North, where he was defeated by Barbara Castle.<ref>[http://www.election.demon.co.uk/ "David Boothroyd's United Kingdom Election Results"].</ref> In the 1983 general election he was the party's candidate in [[Burnley]].	+	Steed was a leading member of the "radical" wing of the Liberal Party which in the late 1960s and 1970s found itself at odds with the parliamentary party and its leader [[Jeremy Thorpe]] over a number of issues. In particular, Steed and his colleagues felt that "the party must shift attention away from personalities to a wide-ranging debate about ideology, principles and policies".<ref>"Liberal calls to end 'slanging': Leader will face his critics", ''The Times'', 17 June 1968, p.2.</ref><ref>"Renewed challenge to Thorpe leadership", ''The Guardian'', London, 15 September 1969.</ref> He contributed several articles to the radical monthly, ''New Outlook''. For a time he was an elected member of the Party's national executive.[[File:Steed1967.jpg|thumb|left|By-election communication card 1967]]
−	In 1976 Michael Steed designed the new system for the election of the Leader of the Liberal Party.<ref>"As Thorpe storm rises Steel says 'I'm staying'", ''The Observer'', London, 7 March 1976.</ref>	+	Michael Steed has always been an ardent pro-European, and his study of parties and elections soon came to embrace continental as well as UK politics. <ref>E.g. Michael Steed, "De Gaulle no longer a 'national' leader", ''The Guardian'', 23 December 1965</ref> In 1969 he called for a common European currency.<ref>"Flexible pound urged", ''The Times'', 20 September 1969, page 15</ref>
−	Steed was elected President of the Liberal Party 1978-79.<ref>"Next Liberal president", ''The Guardian'', 7 October 1977</ref>	+	At the 1971 Liberal Assembly, he successfully moved the major pro-European resolution, noting however that the then EEC, in which decisions were taken by "a secret cabal", must be made more democratic. National sovereignty, he argued, would "die away as a European democracy of widely diffused power was created and exercised at all levels" in "a close political union of the people of Europe".<ref>"Common Market poll rejected", ''The Guardian'', 18 September 1971</ref> <ref>"Goal of unity in EEC", ''The Times'', 18 September 1971, page 23</ref>
−	For many years Michael Steed was a leading light in the [[Campaign for Homosexual Equality]], serving on its Executive Committee and for a time as its Treasurer. At a time when there was still great hostility to gay rights, he spoke out at public meetings, including an acrimonious one in [[Burnley]] in 1971 over the proposed establishment of a gay club, at which he shared the platform with [[Ray Gosling]]. This meeting has come to be seen as a watershed in the emergence of a national grass-roots gay rights movement in Britain.<ref>"Tempers fly at 'club' meeting", ''Burnley Express'', 3 August 1971.</ref>	+	Michael Steed consistently called for wide-ranging constitutional reform, including devolution all round, with elected regional governments, a more proportional election system, and the abolition of a Prime Minister's right to dissolve Parliament on a whim.<ref>See e.g. Michael Steed, "Changing the rules of the general election game", ''The Times'', 19 June 1975, p.14. </ref> The last of this list of objectives was finally achieved by the Fixed Term Parliament Act passed in 2011.<ref>http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/14/contents/enacted Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011</ref>
−	In 1975, with his former CHE colleague Paul Temperton, he founded ''Northern Democrat'', a magazine calling for democratic regional government.<ref>"Power to the North urged", ''The Guardian'', 7 February 1975.</ref> <ref>"Growing concern in North at devolution proposals", ''The Times'', London, 4 November 1976, p.4.</ref> This later developed into the Campaign for the North, an all-party group pressing for devolution for the English regions as well as Scotland and Wales, with Steed as Chairman and Temperton as Director, using funding from the Rowntree Trust.<ref>John Chartres, "Northern campaign against 'London chauvinism'", ''The Times'', London, 30 August 1977, p.3.</ref> <ref>James Lewis, "Crying halt to South-east oligarchy: Northern grass roots movement seeks an end to 'over-centralisation'", ''The Guardian'', London, 23 May 1978.</ref>	+	He stood as Liberal Party candidate in the 1967 [[Brierley Hill]] by-election<ref>"Liberal choice is lecturer", ''The Guardian'', 8 April 1967</ref> and the 1973 [[Manchester]] Exchange by-election, in which he pushed the Conservatives into a poor third place.<ref>John Chartres, "Domestic issues dominate by-election", ''The Times'', 14 June 1973, page 3</ref> <ref> Manchester Exchange by election was held on a Wednesday- the last time a parliamentary election has been held on any day other than a Thursday </ref>. In the 1970 general election he was the party's candidate for [[Truro]]. In the February 1974 general election he stood in Manchester Central.<ref>''The Times'', 14 February 1974, page 7</ref> In the 1979 European elections, he was the Liberal candidate for [[Greater Manchester]] North, where he was defeated by Barbara Castle.<ref>http://www.election.demon.co.uk/ "David Boothroyd's United Kingdom Election Results"</ref> In the 1983 general election he was the party's candidate in [[Burnley]]. [[File:Steed67byelection.jpg|thumb|right|Election address 1967 Brierley Hill by-election]]
−	In retirement, Michael Steed has returned to his native East Kent, where he remains active in local Liberal Democrat politics. In July 2008 he was elected to [[Canterbury]] City Council.	+	In 1975, with his former CHE colleague [[Paul Temperton]], he founded ''Northern Democrat'', a magazine calling for democratic regional government.<ref>"Power to the North urged", ''The Guardian'', 7 February 1975</ref><ref>"Growing concern in North at devolution proposals", ''The Times'', 4 November 1976, page 4</ref> This later developed into the Campaign for the North, an all-party group pressing for devolution for the English regions as well as Scotland and Wales, with Steed as Chairman and Temperton as Director, using funding from the Rowntree Trust.<ref>John Chartres, "Northern campaign against 'London chauvinism'", ''The Times'', London, 30 August 1977, p.3.</ref> <ref>James Lewis, "Crying halt to South-east oligarchy: Northern grass roots movement seeks an end to 'over-centralisation'", ''The Guardian'', 23 May 1978</ref>
−	He is currently Honorary Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. He has also been Senior Research Fellow of the Federal Trust.	+	In 1976 Michael Steed designed the new system for the election of the Leader of the Liberal Party.<ref>"As Thorpe storm rises Steel says 'I'm staying'", ''The Observer'', 7 March 1976</ref>
−	He is a Trustee of the Arthur McDougall Fund and of the Canterbury Commemoration Society, and a Vice-President of the Electoral Reform Society.	+
−	In 2012, Michael Steed was elected to the Council of the Social Liberal Forum.<ref>http://socialliberal.net/2012/09/09/social-liberal-forum-announce-newly-elected-council/  Social Liberal Forum 9 September 2012 "Social Liberal Forum announce newly elected Council"</ref>	+	Steed was elected President of the Liberal Party for 1978-79.<ref>"Next Liberal president", ''The Guardian'', 7 October 1977</ref>
−	==Publications include==	+	In retirement, Michael Steed returned to his native East Kent, where he was active in local Liberal Democrat politics. In July 2008 he was elected to [[Canterbury]] City Council.
−	(with Dan Mateer and Jon Steel) ''Charter for Youth'', National League of Young Liberals, 1964. OCLC 315337463	+	In 2012, Michael Steed was elected to the Council of the Social Liberal Forum.<ref>http://socialliberal.net/2012/09/09/social-liberal-forum-announce-newly-elected-council/  Social Liberal Forum 9 September 2012 "Social Liberal Forum announce newly elected Council"</ref>
−	"Voting in Cities: The 1964 Borough Elections", in ''Urban Studies'', 5, no. 3 (1968): 351-352. Sage, London. ISSN 0042-0980	+	Michael Steed died in 2023. Some of his research papers were transferred to Bristol University Archives.
−	(with Bryan Keith-Lucas and Peter Hall) ''The Maud Report'' (Royal Commission on Local Government), New Society Publications, London, 1970, ISBN 0-900438-01-0	+	==Gay campaigning==
−	(with David M Clark and Sally Marshall) ''Greater Manchester votes: a guide to the new metropolitan authorities'', Stockport, 1973, ISBN 0-9502932-0-2	+	For many years Michael Steed was a leading light in the [[Campaign for Homosexual Equality]]. He became chairman of the organisation in succession to [[Allan Horsfall]], and subsequently had other roles on the  Executive Committee, including Treasurer. At a time when there was still great hostility to gay rights, he spoke out at public meetings, including an acrimonious one in [[Burnley]] in 1971 over the proposed establishment of a gay club, at which he shared the platform with [[Ray Gosling]]. This meeting has come to be seen as a watershed in the emergence of a national grass-roots gay rights movement in Britain.<ref>"Tempers fly at 'club' meeting", ''Burnley Express'', 3 August 1971.</ref>
		+	Steed retired from being Chair of CHE after the 1974 Malvern Conference and was succeeded by Barrie Kenyon <ref> Gay News Issue 51 1974 </ref>.
−	''Who's a Liberal in Europe?'', North West Community Newspapers, Manchester, 1975, OCLC 4034678	+	==Personal life==
−	"Parties in the European Parliament", in ''Journal of Common Market Studies'', vol. 15, Oxford, 1976. ISSN 0021-9886	+	Steed was married in London in 1970 to a former Swedish diplomat Margareta Holmstedt. Both served as local councillors in Todmorden. They lived together in [[Todmorden]]. In later life Steed lived with Barry Clements,his male partner, in the Canterbury area.
−	(with Ralph Bancroft and Ben Sawbridge) ''Self-government for the British'', Prism, Watford, 1976. OCLC 333607215}}	+	==References==
−	''Fair elections or fiasco?: Proposals for a sensible voting system for the European Parliament'', National Committee for Electoral Reform, London, 1977. OCLC 4428843	+	Based on the Wikipedia article of the same name.
−	(with S.E. Finer) "Politics of Great Britain" in Roy C. Macridis et al. (eds.), ''Modern Political Systems: Europe'', (4th edn), Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1978. ISBN 978-0-13-597187-1	+	Authority control: VIAF=35908302
−	"The Liberal Party" in H. Drucker (ed.), ''Multi-Party Britain'', Macmillan, London, 1979. ISBN 978-0-333-24056-4
−
−	(with [[John Curtice]]) ''From Warrington and Croydon to Downing St.: How to sort out the psephological details of a Liberal-Social Democrat alliance'', North West Community Newspapers, Manchester, 1981. ISBN 978-0-907803-00-3
−
−	(with David Faull) ''First past the post: The great British class handicap sponsored by Margaret Thatcher and the Labour Party'', LAGER, London, 1981. OCLC 222101152
−
−	"Voters, Parties and Money" in ''Parliamentary Affairs'', vol. 35, Oxford University Press, 1982. OCLC 13162457
−
−	(with John Curtice) "Electoral Choice and The Production of Government: The Changing Operation of the Electoral System in the United Kingdom since 1955", in ''British Journal of Political Science'', vol. 12, Cambridge University Press, 1982. ISSN 0007-1234
−
−	"The Formation of Governments in the United Kingdom" in ''Political Quarterly'', Blackwell, Oxford, vol.54, 1983. ISSN 0032-3179
−
−	"The European Parliament" in Bogdanor and Butler (eds), ''Democracy and elections: Electoral systems and their political consequences'', Cambridge, 1983, ISBN 0-521-25295-4
−
−	"The Alliance: A critical history", in ''New Outlook'' vol. 22 No 3, Prism, Guildford, 1983. OCLC 78212441
−
−	(with John Curtice) ''One in four: An examination of the Alliance performance at constituency level in the 1983 general election'', Association of Liberal Councillors, Hebden Bridge, W. Yorkshire, 1984. ISBN 978-0-901651-05-1
−
−	"Dr Reece and the proportional loss hypothesis" in ''Representation'', vol. 25, Routledge (for the McDougall Trust), London, 1985. ISSN 0034-4893
−
−	"The Constituency" in Vernon Bogdanor (ed.), ''Representatives of the People? Parliamentarians and Constituencies in Western Democracies'', Gower, Aldershot, 1985. European Centre for Political Studies. ISBN 978-0-566-00878-8
−
−	(with John Curtice) "Proportionality and Exaggeration in the British Electoral System" in ''Electoral Studies,'' vol. 5, No 3, Butterworths, Guildford, 1986. OCLC 71618129
−
−	"[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6X2W-46MMYDB-8&_user=10&_coverDate=10%2F31%2F1986&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1562799203&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=14288754010a9592e73cebcf8d431329&searchtype=a The core—periphery dimension of British politics]", ''Political Geography Quarterly'', Volume 5, Issue 4, Supplement 1, October 1986, Pages S91-S103, {{doi|10.1016/0260-9827(86)90060-1}}
−
−	(with Raymond Plant) ''PR for Europe: Proposals to change the electoral system of the European Parliament'', Federal Trust, London, 1997, ISBN 0-901573-66-3
−
−	"Will devolution change British parties?" in ''Representation'', vol.36, Routledge (for the McDougall Trust), 1999, ISSN 1749-4001
−
−	(with [[John Curtice]]) "And now for the Commons? Lessons from Britain's first experience with proportional representation", in ''Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties'', vol.10, 2000, ISSN 1745-7297
−
−	(with Roger Morgan) ''Choice and Representation in The European Union'', Tauris (for the Federal Trust), London, 2002, ISBN 0-901573-73-6
−
−	(with John Curtice and Stephen Fisher) "An Analysis of the Results", in ''British Politicians and European Elections 2004'' (Ed. Butler and Westlake), Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2005, ISBN 978-1-4039-3585-4
−
−	"Defining Democracy" in ''Representation'', vol.41, Routledge (for the McDougall Trust), 2005, ISSN 1749-4001
−
−
−	==References==
	<references/>		<references/>
−	{{Authority control|VIAF=35908302}}	+	[[Category:Liberal politicians]]
		+	[[Category:1940 births]]
		+	[[Category:2023 deaths]]

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Latest revision as of 22:11, 10 September 2024

Michael Steed (1940-2023) was a psephologist, political scientist, broadcaster, activist and Liberal Democrat politician. He wrote extensively on parties and elections.

Early life

Michael Steed was born in Kent, where his father was a farmer. He was educated at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate and at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 1960 the South African authorities refused him entry to Sharpeville to deliver food aid to victims of the Sharpeville shootings.^[1]

From 1963 to 1965 he undertook postgraduate research at Nuffield College, Oxford, under Dr David Butler. At the same time he was active in the Young Liberals, particularly on the issue of apartheid in South Africa.^[2] He became national Vice-Chairman of the Young Liberals.

Academic career

In 1966 he became Lecturer in Government at Manchester University, a post he held for many years until taking early retirement through ill health. He lived for a while in Todmorden ^[3]. As a psephologist he became a specialist in the detailed analysis of election results from a sociological point of view, for many years providing media such as The Observer and The Economist with texts making such complexities as "percentage swing" accessible to the lay reader.^[4] In the later 1960s and throughout the 1970s he made regular television appearances on "election night" programmes, often at the side of Bob McKenzie, who popularised the "swingometer" based on the concept of swing devised by David Butler.^[5] Steed was to develop a more complex formula for calculating swing, sometimes known among psephologists as "Steed swing" to differentiate it from "Butler swing".

From 1964 until 2005, Steed - latterly in conjunction with John Curtice - was responsible for the statistical analysis in David Butler's regular Nuffield election studies entitled "The British General Election of ...".^[6][7]

In 1989 Steed moved back to his native Kent where he was appointed Honorary Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent. He has also been Senior Research Fellow of the Federal Trust. He was a Trustee of the Arthur McDougall Fund and of the Canterbury Commemoration Society, and a Vice-President of the Electoral Reform Society.

Political career

Steed was a leading member of the "radical" wing of the Liberal Party which in the late 1960s and 1970s found itself at odds with the parliamentary party and its leader Jeremy Thorpe over a number of issues. In particular, Steed and his colleagues felt that "the party must shift attention away from personalities to a wide-ranging debate about ideology, principles and policies".^[8][9] He contributed several articles to the radical monthly, New Outlook. For a time he was an elected member of the Party's national executive.

Michael Steed has always been an ardent pro-European, and his study of parties and elections soon came to embrace continental as well as UK politics. ^[10] In 1969 he called for a common European currency.^[11]

At the 1971 Liberal Assembly, he successfully moved the major pro-European resolution, noting however that the then EEC, in which decisions were taken by "a secret cabal", must be made more democratic. National sovereignty, he argued, would "die away as a European democracy of widely diffused power was created and exercised at all levels" in "a close political union of the people of Europe".^{[12] [13]}

Michael Steed consistently called for wide-ranging constitutional reform, including devolution all round, with elected regional governments, a more proportional election system, and the abolition of a Prime Minister's right to dissolve Parliament on a whim.^[14] The last of this list of objectives was finally achieved by the Fixed Term Parliament Act passed in 2011.^[15]

He stood as Liberal Party candidate in the 1967 Brierley Hill by-election^[16] and the 1973 Manchester Exchange by-election, in which he pushed the Conservatives into a poor third place.^{[17] [18]}. In the 1970 general election he was the party's candidate for Truro. In the February 1974 general election he stood in Manchester Central.^[19] In the 1979 European elections, he was the Liberal candidate for Greater Manchester North, where he was defeated by Barbara Castle.^[20] In the 1983 general election he was the party's candidate in Burnley.

In 1975, with his former CHE colleague Paul Temperton, he founded Northern Democrat, a magazine calling for democratic regional government.^[21][22] This later developed into the Campaign for the North, an all-party group pressing for devolution for the English regions as well as Scotland and Wales, with Steed as Chairman and Temperton as Director, using funding from the Rowntree Trust.^{[23] [24]}

In 1976 Michael Steed designed the new system for the election of the Leader of the Liberal Party.^[25]

Steed was elected President of the Liberal Party for 1978-79.^[26]

In retirement, Michael Steed returned to his native East Kent, where he was active in local Liberal Democrat politics. In July 2008 he was elected to Canterbury City Council.

In 2012, Michael Steed was elected to the Council of the Social Liberal Forum.^[27]

Michael Steed died in 2023. Some of his research papers were transferred to Bristol University Archives.

Gay campaigning

For many years Michael Steed was a leading light in the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. He became chairman of the organisation in succession to Allan Horsfall, and subsequently had other roles on the Executive Committee, including Treasurer. At a time when there was still great hostility to gay rights, he spoke out at public meetings, including an acrimonious one in Burnley in 1971 over the proposed establishment of a gay club, at which he shared the platform with Ray Gosling. This meeting has come to be seen as a watershed in the emergence of a national grass-roots gay rights movement in Britain.^[28] Steed retired from being Chair of CHE after the 1974 Malvern Conference and was succeeded by Barrie Kenyon ^[29].

Personal life

Steed was married in London in 1970 to a former Swedish diplomat Margareta Holmstedt. Both served as local councillors in Todmorden. They lived together in Todmorden. In later life Steed lived with Barry Clements,his male partner, in the Canterbury area.

References

Based on the Wikipedia article of the same name.

Authority control: VIAF=35908302

1. ↑ "Not allowed in Sharpeville: Cambridge student barred", The Guardian, London, 23 August 1960.
2. ↑ "Young Liberals protest to Home Secretary", The Guardian, London, 30 March 1964
3. ↑ In 1974 he sold his house at 8 Longfield Road Todmorden to Chris Bowden-Smith. Subsequently Bowden-Smith moved to West Kirby and Tony Hancock moved in with Micky Gibberd (conversation Clifford Williams with Michael Steed)
4. ↑ E.g. Peter Pulzer and Michael Steed, "What your votes foretell", The Observer, London, 12 April 1964.
5. ↑ Eg "The Night of the Machines: Clive James on the BBC's great election spectacular", The Observer, 13 October 1974.
6. ↑ Richard Rose, "The Nuffield election studies come of age", The Times, 27 October 1966, p 13
7. ↑ David McKie, "A man with a franchise to unlock the secret of the ballot", The Guardian, London, 15 April 1988
8. ↑ "Liberal calls to end 'slanging': Leader will face his critics", The Times, 17 June 1968, p.2.
9. ↑ "Renewed challenge to Thorpe leadership", The Guardian, London, 15 September 1969.
10. ↑ E.g. Michael Steed, "De Gaulle no longer a 'national' leader", The Guardian, 23 December 1965
11. ↑ "Flexible pound urged", The Times, 20 September 1969, page 15
12. ↑ "Common Market poll rejected", The Guardian, 18 September 1971
13. ↑ "Goal of unity in EEC", The Times, 18 September 1971, page 23
14. ↑ See e.g. Michael Steed, "Changing the rules of the general election game", The Times, 19 June 1975, p.14.
15. ↑ http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/14/contents/enacted Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011
16. ↑ "Liberal choice is lecturer", The Guardian, 8 April 1967
17. ↑ John Chartres, "Domestic issues dominate by-election", The Times, 14 June 1973, page 3
18. ↑ Manchester Exchange by election was held on a Wednesday- the last time a parliamentary election has been held on any day other than a Thursday
19. ↑ The Times, 14 February 1974, page 7
20. ↑ http://www.election.demon.co.uk/ "David Boothroyd's United Kingdom Election Results"
21. ↑ "Power to the North urged", The Guardian, 7 February 1975
22. ↑ "Growing concern in North at devolution proposals", The Times, 4 November 1976, page 4
23. ↑ John Chartres, "Northern campaign against 'London chauvinism'", The Times, London, 30 August 1977, p.3.
24. ↑ James Lewis, "Crying halt to South-east oligarchy: Northern grass roots movement seeks an end to 'over-centralisation'", The Guardian, 23 May 1978
25. ↑ "As Thorpe storm rises Steel says 'I'm staying'", The Observer, 7 March 1976
26. ↑ "Next Liberal president", The Guardian, 7 October 1977
27. ↑ http://socialliberal.net/2012/09/09/social-liberal-forum-announce-newly-elected-council/ Social Liberal Forum 9 September 2012 "Social Liberal Forum announce newly elected Council"
28. ↑ "Tempers fly at 'club' meeting", Burnley Express, 3 August 1971.
29. ↑ Gay News Issue 51 1974