| Biography | Griffith was one time chairman of the National League of Young Liberals. He was well known as a good platform performer in politics and for being an outstanding young thinker ranked alongside the likes of Elliott Dodds. He contested the Bromley division of Kent for the Liberal party in the general elections of 1922, 1923 and 1924 being unsuccessful on all three occasions.
By 1927, Griffith was so well thought of in Liberal circles that he was appointed to the Liberal Organizing Committee under the Chairmanship of future party leader Herbert Samuel along with other party luminaries such as Archie Sinclair another future leader. In March 1928 he was adopted as candidate for the by-election in the Liberal seat of Middlesbrough West which he held in a three cornered contest. At the previous general election (1924) the Liberal candidate was Trevelyan Thomson, who was so entrehcned in the seat that he had been unopposed. However Labour put up a strong challenge against Griffith at the by-election, losing by just 89 votes. Griffith got 36.3% of the poll, compared to Labours 36% and the Conservatives 27.8%. Griffith fought mainly on the traditional Liberal stance of Free Trade but also called for a programme of public works together with social reform and industrial reconstruction. This platform anticipated the Liberal election manifesto of 1929 based on the coloured books of David Lloyd George and the economic models of John Maynard Keynes. In fact Lloyd George turned up to speak for Griffith in the campaign, as did Herbert Samuel. In 1931-32 Griffith was parliamentary private secretary to Sir Herbert Samuel, by then the Home Secretary and Liberal leader. Once elected to the House of Commons he gained the respect of his peers in the Parliamentary Liberal Party, being an able speaker in the chamber with a good parliamentary style |