Brief Biography:

Merlyn Rees was born in South Wales but later received his education at Harrow Weald Grammar School, Middlesex, and the London School of Economics. Rees then served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War before taking up a teaching position at his old school, Harrow Weald. After several failed attempts he was finally elected as a Labour MP in 1963 for the constituency of Leeds South (1963-83) and also went onto represent Morley and Leeds South (1983-92). Rees was to serve in a number of junior ministerial posts in the Labour governments of 1964 to 1970 including a spell at the Home Office (1968-70). This latter posting came at a time when this department was increasingly becoming involved in the affairs of Northern Ireland in the wake of the growing civil unrest after 1968. The experience he was to gain during this time, along with his own interest in Irish matters, led in 1972 to his appointment as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1972-74). Then following the British general election of February 1974, which was to see the Labour Party returned to power, Rees entered the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1974-76).

From the outset however he was faced with an extremely difficult position. The campaign of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) was, if anything, intensifying and this was matched by a significant growth in loyalist paramilitary activity. On the political front too Rees had major problems to deal with. The previous Conservative government in an attempt to return devolved power had initiated a series of discussions which at the end of 1973 had produced the Sunningdale Agreement. This proposed that a power-sharing executive should govern Northern Ireland along with a Council of Ireland to formalise relations between Belfast and Dublin. These developments had however angered many within the unionist community and they had used the general election of February 1974 to register their protests, winning eleven of the twelve Northern Ireland constituencies.

In May 1974 the nature of this campaign was intensified with the calling of a general strike organised by the Ulster Workers' Council (UWC), aimed at bringing down the settlement agreed at Sunningdale. With accusations of widespread intimidation Rees came under pressure to intervene and to use the British Army to try to ensure that essential services were maintained. However his military advisers warned against taking such an approach to end the UWC strike. In addition he harboured doubts whether the power-sharing Executive was robust enough to survive the crisis it faced. Finally, with those unionist members of the Executive threatening to resign, Rees decided in late May 1974 to re-introduce direct rule from Westminster. By July 1974 he decided to launch a fresh political initiative by proposing an elected Constitutional Convention to allow for Northern Ireland politicians to come up with an agreed settlement. This was to prove however an over optimistic assumption, with moderate nationalists still bitter by Rees's actions during the UWC strike and unionists opposed to any agreement based on the Sunningdale model. As a result the Constitutional Convention which was established May 1975 failed in its purpose and in March 1976 Rees was forced to formally dissolve it.

During this same period he was also faced with the increasing level of paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland from both loyalist and republican groups. To try to counteract this Rees was determined to press ahead with plans to reform security policy and the legal system, which soon became known as 'Ulsterisation'. In the midst of these changes he was able to take advantage of renewed contacts with the IRA to allow for it to call a ceasefire in February 1975. But the early promise engendered by this move soon disappeared and by the summer of 1975 the ceasefire had effectively broken down leading to a new upsurge in violence. Having served in Northern Ireland for a little over two years, in September 1976 Rees was made Home Secretary and held this post until the fall of the Labour government at the general election of May 1979. He never again held a cabinet position but remained an MP until announcing his retirement from active politics before the 1992 general election. Later in 1992 Rees received a life peerage and took his seat in the House of Lords as Lord Rees of Cilfynydd.

Book References:

Anderson, Don. (1994), Fourteen May Days: The Inside Story of the Loyalist Strike of 1974. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.
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.
Rees, Merlyn. (1985), Northern Ireland: A Personal Perspective. London: Methuen.

Web Sources:

[Entry by B.Lynn - 2 January 2003]