Editing Selwyn Lloyd (section)

===Bar and local government===
Lloyd was a Liberal Parliamentary candidate at [[Macclesfield (UK Parliament constituency)|Macclesfield]] in the [[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929 general election]], coming third. After this he concentrated on his legal career. He was called to the bar in 1930.<ref name = "ODNB"/> As a barrister, he was an opponent of capital punishment and was not always deferential to the bench: when a judge suggested holding a special sitting on the morning of [[Good Friday]], he withdrew his suggestion after Lloyd pointed out that the last judge to do so had been [[Pontius Pilate]].<ref name="Matthew 2004, p158" />

Like many young politicians, in 1930–1931 Lloyd was sympathetic to [[Oswald Mosley]]'s [[New Party (UK)|New Party]] and was disappointed that it made so little headway.<ref name="Matthew 2004, p158"/> He declined to stand again for Macclesfield as a Liberal in 1931 over tariffs,<ref name="Thorpe 1989, p56-7"/> and thought the rump [[National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)|National Liberal Party]] not worth joining.<ref name="Matthew 2004, p158"/> Lloyd voted Conservative for the first time at the [[1931 United Kingdom general election|1931 election]],<ref>Thorpe 1989, p. 89.</ref> although in that year he declined an invitation to join the Conservative Party candidates' list.<ref name="Thorpe 1989, p59">Thorpe 1989, p. 59.</ref>

He joined [[Hoylake]] [[Urban District Council]] on 19 April 1932, as a councillor for Grange Ward. For three years he was chairman of the Estates Finance Committee, managing a budget in excess of £250,000, {{Inflation|UK|250000|1932|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}.<ref name="Thorpe 1989, p59"/><ref name="measuringworth.com">[http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php Compute the Relative Value of a U.K. Pound] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331194822/https://measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php |date=31 March 2016 }}</ref> At the age of 32 he became the youngest-ever chairman of the council.<ref name="Matthew 2004, p158"/> As chairman, in 1937, he was in charge of the local [[Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth|Coronation festivities]], an event which he used to strengthen his links with the [[Territorial Army (UK)|Territorial Army]].<ref name="Thorpe 1989, p61">Thorpe 1989, p. 61.</ref> He continued to serve on the council until 1940.<ref name="Matthew 2004, p158"/> In the early 1960s he was often mocked as "Mr Hoylake UDC", implying him to be a small-town lawyer and local councillor who had been promoted onto the national stage above his abilities.<ref name="Thorpe 1989, p61"/>

Lloyd considered himself a Conservative from the mid-1930s, but did not formally join the Conservative Party until he was selected as a Parliamentary candidate in 1945; he later wrote that he would have taken a more active role in Conservative politics had it not been for the war.<ref name="Matthew 2004, p158"/>