"Bev" Wins

Its political knees might still be arthritic, but Britain's senescent Liberal Party was halfway out of its club chair last week. Up in the border constituency of Berwick, famed Sir William Beveridge, the Liberals' greatest catch in years, had just wiped the hustings with his by-election opponent, Farmer William Donald Clark. It was not much of a fight. White-haired Farmer Clark passed round the hat at his meetings. White-haired Sir William explained his famed social-security plan, already somewhat dated by the Conservative Woolton Plan (TIME, Oct. 9) which Sir William has endorsed. Sir William's majority: 7,523.

Looking and grinning like Mr. Punch, 65-year-old Sir William observed: "I intend to devote the rest of my life to politics and to spreading liberalism wherever I go."

For the long moribund Liberal Party, with its minuscule representation in Parliament (19 members out of 615), "Bev" was indeed a catch. Even the rumored intention of Field Marshal Montgomery to join the Party after the war paled before the presence of Britain's No. 1 social-security expert among the Liberal members. With a general election likely next year, both the Liberal Party and its distinguished recruit firmly believe that Britain is on the eve of a Liberal revival-- a genuine interest by the "disillusioned"' middle classes in the Party's progressive program. With pride Party chiefs pointed to the good Liberal showing in recent by-elections, higher Party enrollments, the constant stream of requests, many from the services, for expositions of Liberal policy. With old Bev as a symbol of rejuvenated Liberalism, Liberals talked of winning 100 seats in the next election.

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