Michael James Meadowcroft (born 6 March 1942) is a British author, politician and political affairs consultant. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds West from 1983 to 1987. Early life Meadowcroft was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire but moved to Southport when young as a consequence of his railwayman grandfather's promotion from signalman at Sowerby Bridge station to St Luke's railway station. He was educated at King George V Grammar School in Southport. In 1958, he left school to work as a bank clerk, and joined the Liberal Party. He became Chairman of the Merseyside Region of the National League of Young Liberals in 1961. Early political career Between 1962 and 1967, Meadowcroft worked for the Liberal Party and became the party's Local Government Officer. In 1968, he was elected as a Liberal member of Leeds City Council and served until 1983. Meadowcroft also led the Liberal Group on the council for a large part of his time as a city councillor. He also served as a member of West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council from 1973 to 1976 and again from 1981 to 1983. He held many roles within the party, including the chair of the Liberal Party Assembly committee responsible for organising the party's conferences. He also authored a number of influential pamphlets championing liberal philosophy and the principles of community politics. Member of Parliament He stood unsuccessfully in Leeds West for the Liberals in the general elections of February 1974 and October 1974 before winning in 1983, defeating Labour MP Joseph Dean. This victory was a shock result and has been attributed to an early form of community politics, focusing on local problems. Before being elected, he had already been known as an opponent of the SDP–Liberal Alliance given differing policies between the two parties. By the time of his election, the term "Meadowcroft Tendency" (a play on Labour's Militant Tendency) was being used for those in the Liberal Party who favoured alliances with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and civil rights groups above the SDP. He wrote in an opinion piece in October 1986: "my seniors in the party suspect that some of my opinions are quite unorthodox: indeed, are positively heretical". In his maiden speech, he took a familiar stand on the subject of decentralisation of power: "Already there is too much central Government power in local government, as well as the power