Herbert Bowden, Baron Aylestone

Herbert William Bowden, Baron Aylestone, CH, CBE, PC (20 January 1905 – 30 April 1994) was a British Labour politician.

The Right Honourable The Lord Aylestone CH CBE PC
Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs
In office 1 August 1966 – 29 August 1967
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Arthur Bottomley (Commonwealth Relations)
Succeeded by	George Thomson
Leader of the House of Commons Lord President of the Council
In office 16 October 1964 – 11 August 1966
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Selwyn Lloyd (Leader of Commons) Quintin Hogg (President of Council)
Succeeded by	Richard Crossman
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 3 November 1967 – 30 April 1994 Life Peerage
Member of Parliament for Leicester South West Leicester South (1945–1950)
In office 5 July 1945 – 2 November 1967
Preceded by	Charles Waterhouse
Succeeded by	Tom Boardman
Personal details
Born	20 January 1905 Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
Died	30 April 1994(1994-04-30) (aged 89)
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour Social Democratic Party

Born in Cardiff, Wales, Bowden was a councillor on Leicester City Council (1938–45) and president of Leicester Labour Party in 1938. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Bowden was elected at the 1945 general election for Leicester South, and then for Leicester South West at the 1950 election. He was appointed a whip in 1949 and a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in 1950. From 1951 onwards, he was Deputy Chief Whip, then Chief Whip throughout Labour's years in opposition. Bowden was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1953 Coronation Honours.[1]

When Labour returned to power in 1964, Bowden was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, having become a Privy Counsellor in 1962. In 1966, he was moved to the new post of Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs, serving until 1967. On 1 September 1967 he succeeded Lord Hill as chairman of the Independent Television Authority.[2]

On 20 September 1967, Bowden was created a life peer as Baron Aylestone, of Aylestone in the City of Leicester.[3] He was appointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the 1975 Birthday Honours,[4] and joined the Social Democratic Party in the 1980s.

Lord Aylestone died in 1994, aged 89, in Worthing, Sussex.