of the Pound sterling in November 1967 forced the government to withdraw from defence commitments 'east of Suez'. Donnelly resigned the Labour Party whip in the House of Commons on 18 January 1968. The Labour Party responded on 27 March by expelling him from membership of the party entirely. Democratic Party At a meeting of the Monday Club in 1968, Donnelly received a two-minute standing ovation, and then told members "Mr Wilson should resign and leave public life". However he was not willing to join the Conservative Party and instead set up his own party, initially known as 'Our Party' but later the Democratic Party. In some respects the party's policy was to the right of the Conservatives, advocating the abolition of the welfare state, sweeping changes to the taxation system, and the return of national service. The party fought five seats at the 1970 general election but polled poorly. Donnelly himself lost Pembrokeshire to the Conservatives. Later career Abruptly, in April 1971, Donnelly announced that he had joined the Conservative Party, without warning the members of the Democratic Party. He explained that the Conservative Party closely reflected his views on reform of the law relating to trades unions and EEC entry, and attended the Conservative Party conference that October as a delegate from Cities of London and Westminster. He applied for, but did not get, the Conservative nomination for the Hove by-election in 1973, and was also rejected for Melton for the next general election. In addition to prolific journalism (he specialised in book reviews), Donnelly had gone into business after his defeat in 1970 and became chairman of ICPS Ltd and Managing Director of Practical Europe Ltd. In the recession of 1973 and 1974, his companies struggled financially and this combined with his failure to get back into the House of Commons as a Conservative to cause serious depression. Donnelly committed suicide in a hotel room at West Drayton near Heathrow Airport on 3 April 1974, by drinking a large amount of vodka and taking a massive overdose of barbiturates. References Bibliography 'Mr Desmond Donnelly: An independent politician' (obituary in The Times, 5 April 1974) 'Gadarene '68' by Desmond Donnelly (William Kimber, London, 1968) 'The Nearing Storm' by Desmond Donnelly (Arrow Books, London, 1969) 'Who's Who of British MPs: Volume IV, 1945-1979' by Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees (Harvester, Brighton, 1979) Welsh Political Archive Newsletter, Summer 1998 No