Henry Walston, Baron Walston

[1] The scion of a wealthy German-American family, he was originally expected to follow his father, a Cambridge don and renowned archaeologist, into academic life, and upon receiving his degree he spent two years at Harvard University as a research fellow in bacteriology.

[8] Walston served in the First Wilson ministry, as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 20 October 1964 to the beginning of 1967.

[9][10] In internal Foreign Office discussion, Walston supported James Cable's line, that the USA should cut its losses in the Vietnam War, and argued that the UK should have a pro-active policy of seeking peace.

[15] As a Foreign Office junior minister, Walston argued that the UK government should not grant Rhodesian independence except on terms of majority rule.

[16] During this time at the Foreign Office, Walston was a trustee of one of John Collins's secret Christian Action trusts, channelling funds to the African National Congress.

[9] On a lecture tour of South Africa in 1968, Walston had private discussions with B. J. Vorster, and as a consequence attempted to open a channel of communication to Kenneth Kaunda.

During this period the South African government wished to broker a deal between the UK and Ian Smith, and to use Walston's contacts.

In the period from 1970 to 1976 several Labour politicians met at his apartment in The Albany, eventually forming a retrospectively-christened "Walston group" of pro-European MPs who were supportive of the leading right-wing figure in the party, Roy Jenkins.