Person Open DS/UK/12376 Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy; Thomas' George' (1909-1997); British Labour Party politician and Speaker of the House of Commons. Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy Thomas' George' 1909-1997 British Labour Party politician and Speaker of the House of Commons. Male

Politician; Labour Thomas George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy, PC (29 January 1909 – 22 September 1997) was a British Labour Party politician and Speaker of the House of Commons. Born in Port Talbot, Wales, he initially worked as a teacher in both London and Cardiff. An MP from 1945 to 1983, he held office in Harold Wilson's 1964–1970 Labour administration, notably as Secretary of State for Wales from 1968 to 1970. As a junior minister at the Wales Office, he was one of the first on the scene of the Aberfan disaster in October 1966. In 1976 Thomas was elected Speaker of the House of Commons, in which role the first broadcasting of parliamentary proceedings brought him unprecedented public attention. He retired from parliament in 1983 and was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Tonypandy International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes RAHSkeyte 2/10/2014 Rachael.Fragola 3/1/2022 2e2145f5-0525-407f-aa09-5ad4d77150df