William John Lawrence Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire, (born 12 March 1941 in Leicester), is a British academic, writer, and Liberal Democrat politician, who was a Lord in Waiting from 2010 to 2015.
Early life
Wallace was educated at Westminster Abbey Choir School, where as a chorister he sang at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and St Edward's School, Oxford. He went to King's College, Cambridge, in 1959, reading History (BA). As an undergraduate at Cambridge, Wallace joined all three political clubs (Conservative, Labour, and Liberal). He decided that the Liberal Party was the most attractive and, in 1961, he was elected vice-president of the Cambridge University Liberal Club, later becoming its president.
After graduating from Cambridge Wallace travelled to the United States, where he spent three years working towards his PhD at Cornell University, finishing his thesis on the Liberal Revival of 1955âÂÂ66 while in residence at Nuffield College, Oxford. During this time at Oxford, he met his future wife, Helen Sarah Rushworth, who was president of the Oxford University Liberal Club. They were married on 25 August 1968 and have two children, Harriet (born 1977) and Edward (born 1981), both of whom were, like their father, educated at Cambridge.
Academic career
Wallace began his academic career as a lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of Manchester where he taught between 1966 and 1977.
Wallace served as director of Studies of the Royal Institute of International Affairs 1978âÂÂ1990.
From 1990 to 1995 Wallace was the Walter Hallstein Senior Research Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford. He also served on the editorial board of Soviet Studies.
Between 1993 and 1996 he was a visiting professor at the Central European University where he was involved in setting up the International Relations Department.
In 1995 he moved to the London School of Economics and Political Science where he took up a position as reader in international relations in 1999, becoming a professor of international relations. He became an emeritus professor in 2005. He is chair of the advisory board of LSE IDEAS, a centre for the study of international affairs, diplomacy and grand strategy.
One of his many doctoral students was Olli Rehn.
He has also been a visiting fellow/professor at institutions in the US, Germany, France, Italy, Greece and Belgium.
Politics
He joined the Liberal Party whilst studying at Cambridge and served as vice-president and then president of the Cambridge University Liberal Club.
In the 1966 United Kingdom general election, Wallace served as the Liberal Party's Assistant Press Officer, responsible for Jo Grimond's press activities.
Remaining active in Liberal politics, Wallace unsuccessfully contested five parliamentary elections. He stood in Huddersfield West in 1970, Manchester Moss Side in both February 1974 and October 1974, and Shipley in 1983 and 1987.
He also served as a speechwriter for David Steel and as vice-chairman of the Standing Committee 1977âÂÂ1987. He was co-author of the 1979 Liberal and 1997 Liberal Democrat election manifestos. During the Liberal-SDP Alliance, 1982âÂÂ1987, he was a member of the joint party steering committee. In 2004 he became the president of the Yorkshire regional Liberal Democrat Party. In 2005 he returned to the Federal Policy Committee as the Lords representative, serving on several party policy groups.
He has also served as chair of the advisory board of the liberal think tank, CentreForum.
Lord Wallace is president of the Liberal Democrat History Group. He took over this position after the death of Conrad Russell in 2004.
In 1995 he was awarded the French Chevalier, Ordre du Mérite. In 2005 he was awarded the Légion d'Honneur in recognition of his long-standing efforts to promote the European Union.
In the summer of 2004, he travelled to Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the company of Anna Politkovskaya.
In April 2010, he courted controversy when he partially defended Jenny Tonge, another Liberal Democrat peer following an interview she gave to the Jewish Chronicle in which she called for an investigation into claims of Israeli organ harvesting in Haiti.
Peerage
Wallace was created a life peer on 19 December 1995, taking the title Baron Wallace of Saltaire, of Shipley in the County of West Yorkshire. He made his maiden speech on 17 January 1996 during a debate on education. He retains a house in Saltaire. From 1999 to 2005, parliamentarians from three chambers, Chris Leslie MP in the House of Commons, Lord Wallace of Saltaire in the House of Lords and Richard Corbett MEP in the European Parliament, all lived in Saltaire.
In 1997 Wallace became a member of the Select Committee on the European Communities and chairman of the Sub-Committee on Justice and Home Affairs 1997âÂÂ2000. In 2001 he became the Liberal Democrats' main frontbench spokesperson in the House of Lords on foreign affairs and in November 2004 was elected joint Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Peers.
Following the setting up of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition after the 2010 general election Wallace was appointed a Government Whip acting as government spokesperson in the House of Lords on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education.
Membership of organisations
Wallace is a trustee of the National Children's Choir; a member of Atlantic Community Advisory Board; chair of the Board of Voces Cantabiles (professional choir, not-for-profit musical and educational work); is vice president of the Upper Wharfedale Agricultural Society; and is a member and shareholder of the Wensleydale Railway Association.
In the past Wallace has served as a council member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs; a board member of Genius of the Violin; a chairman of the Academic Advisory Committee and a trustee of Goodenough College, London; chair of the advisory board of the Cold War Studies Centre, London School of Economics; co-chair of the British-Dutch bilateral 'Appeldoorn' Conference; was patron of the Saltaire Festival; and was patron of the Shipley Glen Tramway.
Publications
- William Wallace, 'British External Relations and the European Community: the Changing Context of Foreign Policy-Making', "Journal of Common Market Studies" 12(1) 28-52 (1973)
- Geoffrey Edwards and William Wallace, âÂÂA Wider European Community? Issues and problems of further enlargementâ (London, 1976)
- William Wallace, âÂÂThe Foreign Policy Process in Britainâ (London: Allen and Unwin, 1977)
- William Wallace, âÂÂReform of Governmentâ (London: Liberal Publications Department, 1977)
- William Wallace, 'After Berrill: Whitehall and the management of British diplomacy', âÂÂInternational Affairsâ 54(2) 220-239 (1978)
- William Peterson and William Wallace, âÂÂForeign Policy Making in Western Europe: A Comparative Approachâ (Farnborough, Hants: Saxon House, 1978)
- William Wallace, 'Diplomatic trends in the European Community', âÂÂInternational Affairsâ 55(1) 47-66 (1979)
- William Wallace, âÂÂThe Illusion of Sovereigntyâ (London: Liberal Publications Department, 1979)
- William Wallace, âÂÂBritain in Europeâ (London: Heinemann, 1980)
- Michael Hodges and William Wallace, eds, âÂÂEconomic Divergence in the European Communityâ (London: RIIA, 1981)
- William Wallace, 'European defence co-operation: the reopening debate', âÂÂSurvivalâ 26(6) 251-261 (1984)
- William Wallace, âÂÂBritain's bilateral links within Western Europeâ (London:Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984)
- William Wallace, 'What price independence? Sovereignty and interdependence in British politics', âÂÂInternational Affairsâ 62(3) 367-389 (1986)
- William Wallace, 'Franco-British cooperation and the structure of defence in Europe' (French title, 'â 37(10) 195-206 (1988)
- Christopher Tugendhat and William Wallace, âÂÂOptions for British foreign policy in the 1990sâ (London: RIIA, 1988)
- Helen Wallace and William Wallace, 'Strong state or weak state in foreign policy? The contradictions of Conservative liberalism, 1979-1987', âÂÂPublic Administrationâ 68(1) 83-101 (1990)
- William Wallace, 'Introduction' â âÂÂthe dynamics of European integration. The dynamics of European integrationâÂÂ. London and New York: Pinter Publishers (1990)
- William Wallace, âÂÂThe nation state and foreign policy. French and British foreign policies in transition - the challenge of adjustmentâ (New York: Berg Publishers, 1990)
- William Wallace, âÂÂThe transformation of Western Europeâ (London:Pinter, 1990)
- William Wallace, 'Foreign policy and national identity in the United Kingdom', âÂÂInternational Affairsâ 67(1) 65-80 (1991)
- William Wallace, âÂÂWest European unity - implications for peace and security. Towards a future European peace order?âÂÂ, Basingstoke: Macmillan Academic and Professional (1991)
- William Wallace, âÂÂGermany at the centre of Europeâ in âÂÂThe Federal Republic of Germany - the end of an eraâ (Providence, RI: Berg Publishers, 1991) 167-174
- William Wallace, ed, âÂÂThe Dynamics of European Integrationâ (London: Pinter, 1991)
- William Wallace, 'British foreign policy after the Cold War', âÂÂInternational Affairsâ 68(3) 423-442 (1992)
- William Wallace, 'No tinkering please â we are British', âÂÂWorld Todayâ 48:8-9 (1992)
- William Wallace, 'Foreword' in âÂÂSouthern European security in the 1990sâ (London: Pinter Publishers, 1992)
- William Wallace, 'European-Atlantic security institutions: current state and future prospects', âÂÂInternational spectatorâ XXIX:3 37-52 (1994)
- William Wallace, 'Rescue or retreat? The nation state in Western Europe, 1945-93', âÂÂPolitical studiesâ XLII 52-76 (1994)
- William Wallace, 'Evropsko-atlantické bezpecnostnàinstituce: stav a vyhlÃÂdky' (The European-Atlantic Security Organization: the current situation and prospects) âÂÂezinárodnàvztahyâ 1 21-30 (1994)
- William Wallace, âÂÂRegional integration: the West European experienceâ (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1994)
- William Wallace, 'Deutschland als europäische Führungsmacht' (Germany as a leading power in Europe) âÂÂInternationale Politikâ 50(5) 23-28 (1995)
- William Wallace and Julie Smith, 'Democracy or technocracy? European integration and the problem of popular consent', âÂÂWest European politicsâ 18(3) 137-157 (1995)
- William Wallace, 'Germany as Europe's leading power', âÂÂWorld Todayâ 51:8-9 162-164 (1995)
- Helen Wallace and William Wallace, âÂÂFlying Together in a Larger and More Diverse European Unionâ (The Hague: Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy, 1995)
- William Wallace, âÂÂOpening the Door: the enlargement of NATO and the European Unionâ (London: Centre for European Reform, 1996)
- William Wallace, 'On the move â destination unknown', âÂÂWorld Todayâ 53(4) 99-102 (1997)
- William Wallace, âÂÂWhy Vote Liberal Democratâ (London: Penguin, 1997)
- William Wallace, âÂÂLiberal Democrats and the Third Wayâ (London: Centre for European Reform, 1998)
- Wilfried Loth, William Wallace and Wolfgang Wessells, âÂÂWalter Hallstein: the forgotten European?â (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998)
- William Wallace, 'The sharing of sovereignty: the European paradox', âÂÂPolitical Studiesâ XLVII:3 503-521 (1999)
- William Wallace, 'Europe after the cold war: interstate order or post-sovereign regional system?', âÂÂReview of International Studiesâ 25 201-224 (1999)
- William Wallace, 'From the Atlantic to the Bug, from the Arctic to the Tigris? The transformation of the EU', âÂÂInternational Affairsâ 76(3) 475-494 (2000)
- Robin Niblett and William Wallace, eds, âÂÂRethinking European Order: West European Responses, 1989-97â (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000)
- William Wallace, 'Europe, the necessary partner', âÂÂForeign affairsâ 80(3) 16-34 (2001)
- Daphne Josselin and William Wallace, âÂÂNon-state actors in world politicsâ (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001)
- Anthony Forster and William Wallace, 'What is NATO for?', âÂÂSurvivalâ 43(4) 107-122 (2001)
- William Wallace, 'Where does Europe end?â in âÂÂDilemmas of inclusion and exclusion. Europe unbound: enlarging and reshaping the boundaries of the European Unionâ (London: Routledge 2002)
- William Wallace, 'As viewed from Europe: transatlantic sympathies, transatlantic fears', âÂÂInternational Relationsâ 16(2) 281-285 (2002)
- William Wallace, âÂÂReconciliation in Cyprus: the window of opportunityâ (Florence: European University Institute, 2002)
- Bastian Giegerich and William Wallace, 'Not such a soft power: the external deployment of European forces', âÂÂSurvivalâ 46(2) 163-182 (2004)
- William Wallace, 'British foreign policy: broken bridges', âÂÂWorld Todayâ 60(12) 13-15 (2004)
- Helen Wallace, William Wallace, and Mark A. Pollack, eds, Policy-making in the European Union (5th edn, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005; 4th edn, ed. Helen Wallace and William Wallace, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000; 3rd edn, ed. Helen Wallace and William Wallace, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996; 2nd edn, ed. Helen Wallace, William Wallace, and Carole Webb, Chichester: Wiley, 1983; 1st edn, ed. Helen Wallace, William Wallace, and Carole Webb, London: Wiley, 1977)
- William Wallace, âÂÂEurope or Anglosphere? British Foreign Policy Between Atlanticism and European Integrationâ (London: John Stuart Mill Institute, 2005)
- Tim Oliver and William Wallace, 'A bridge too far: the United Kingdom and the transatlantic relationship' in âÂÂThe Altlantic alliance under stress: US-European relations after Iraqâ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005)
- William Wallace, 'The European mistrust of American leadership', in âÂÂPatriotism, democracy, and common sense: restoring America's promise at home and abroadâ (Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005)
- William Wallace, 'The collapse of British foreign policy', âÂÂInternational Affairsâ 81(1) 53-68 (2005)
- William Wallace, 'European Union a treaty too far', âÂÂWorld Todayâ 61(7) 4-6 (2005)
- William Wallace, 'Europe and the war on terror', in âÂÂUnderstanding global terrorâ (Cambridge, Malden MA: Polity Press, 2007)
- William Wallace, 'Diplomacy: Foreign Office futures', âÂÂWorld Todayâ 64(2) 22-25 (2008)
- William Wallace, 'Less words and more deeds in constructing Europe', âÂÂInternational SpectatorâÂÂ. 43(4) 19-24 (2008)
- Christopher Phillips and William Wallace, 'Reassessing the special relationship', âÂÂInternational Affairsâ 85(2) 263-284 (2009)
Notes
External links