Brief Biography:

Reginald Maudling was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, and Merton College, Oxford, before serving with the armed forces during the Second World War. As a barrister, Maudling stood for the Conservative Party at the 1945 general election but was unsuccessful and did not become an MP until 1950 when returned for the constituency of Barnet (1950-79). By the end of the 1950s he had entered the Cabinet and in 1962 was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1962-64). When the Conservative Party returned to office following the 1970 general election Maudling became the new Home Secretary (1970-72). In the wake of the growing instability in Northern Ireland this department increasingly had to deal with the region and therefore Maudling's ministerial responsibilities were greatly increased.

Although Maudling had given a clear commitment that he would continue to support the programme of reforms initiated by the previous Labour administration the new government was also anxious to introduce a tougher security response. This was to have decidedly mixed response with the minority Catholic community alienated by the introduction of Internment in August 1971. In addition relations between the authorities in London and Belfast deteriorated as both sought to control the management of security policy in Northern Ireland. As Home Secretary Mauldling was closely involved in such developments and in January 1972, whilst making a statement in the Commons on events on Bloody Sunday in Derry, he was physically attacked by Bernadette Devlin (later McAliskey), then Independent Nationalist MP for Mid Ulster. A short time later he resigned in the wake of a police investigation into one of his business associates.

Book References:

Elliott, Sydney. and Flackes, W.D. (1999), Northern Ireland: A Political Directory 1968-1999. Belfast: Blackstaff Press.
Hennessey, Thomas. (1997), A History of Northern Ireland, 1920-1996. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.
Ramsden, John. (ed.) (2002), The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century British Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Web Sources:

[Entry written by B.Lynn - 26 March 2003]