Basil Wigoder

Who was Basil Wigoder?

Basil Wigoder was a politician and barrister in the United Kingdom.

Wigoder was born in Manchester and studied at Manchester Grammar School, then read modern history at Oriel College, Oxford. During World War II, he served in the Royal Artillery. At the end of the war, he stood for the Liberal Party in Bournemouth at the 1945 UK general election, taking second place, then stood again at the Bournemouth by-election, later in the year, falling to third. He then returned to Oxford, where he served as President of the Oxford Union, before joining Gray's Inn.

Wigoder appeared in a number of high-profile trials, including Willcock v Muckle, concerning identity cards, the prosecution of Anthony Reuter, and the defence of George Wigg from a charge of kerb crawling, Francis Bacon from a charge of possessing cannabis, Jonathan Aitken from accusations of leaking classified information, the Earl of Snowdon from a charge of dangerous driving.

Wigoder remained prominent in Liberal politics, standing in Westbury in 1959 and 1964, without success. He was the Chairman of the Liberal Party in 1963, and in 1974 was given a life peerage, serving as the Liberal Chief Whip in the Lords from 1977 until 1984, then as party spokesperson on Home Affairs and the Health Service.