Francis Pym, Baron Pym
The Right Honourable The Lord Pym MC PC |
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Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | |
In office 6 April 1982 – 11 June 1983 |
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Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
Preceded by | The Lord Carrington |
Succeeded by | Sir Geoffrey Howe |
Lord President of the Council | |
In office 14 September 1981 – 5 April 1982 |
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Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
Preceded by | The Lord Soames |
Succeeded by | John Biffen |
Leader of the House of Commons | |
In office 5 January 1981 – 5 April 1982 |
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Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
Preceded by | Norman St John-Stevas |
Succeeded by | John Biffen |
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
In office 5 January 1981 – 14 September 1981 |
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Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
Preceded by | Norman St John-Stevas |
Succeeded by | The Baroness Young |
Paymaster General | |
In office 5 January 1981 – 14 September 1981 |
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Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
Preceded by | Angus Maude |
Succeeded by | Cecil Parkinson |
Secretary of State for Defence | |
In office 4 May 1979 – 5 January 1981 |
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Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
Preceded by | Frederick Mulley |
Succeeded by | John Nott |
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |
In office 2 December 1973 – 4 March 1974 |
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Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
Preceded by | William Whitelaw |
Succeeded by | Merlyn Rees |
Chief Whip of the House of Commons Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury |
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In office 19 June 1970 – 2 December 1973 |
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Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
Preceded by | Bob Mellish |
Succeeded by | Humphrey Atkins |
Member of Parliament for South East Cambridgeshire |
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In office 9 June 1983 – 11 June 1987 |
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Preceded by | Constituency Created |
Succeeded by | James Paice |
Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire |
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In office 16 March 1961 – 9 June 1983 |
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Preceded by | Gerald Howard |
Succeeded by | Constituency Abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | 13 February 1922 Abergavenny, United Kingdom |
Died | 7 March 2008 | (aged 86)
Political party | Conservative |
Alma mater | Magdalene College, Cambridge |
Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym MC, PC (13 February 1922 – 7 March 2008) was a British Conservative Party politician who held several Cabinet positions, including Foreign Secretary. He was born at Penpergwm Lodge, near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, and educated at Eton College and Magdalene College, Cambridge. For much of World War II he served in North Africa and Italy as a captain and regimental adjutant in the 9th Lancers and was awarded the Military Cross; he ended his military service as a major.
He was a managing director and landowner before politics.
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[edit] Political career
Pym entered politics as a member of Herefordshire County Council in 1958.[1] He contested Rhondda West without success in 1959 and entered Parliament in 1961 at a by-election as Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire. He held the seat until 1983, and was MP for Cambridgeshire South East 1983–87.
Pym was an Opposition whip from 1964 and served under Edward Heath as Government Chief Whip (1970–73) and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1973–74), and Margaret Thatcher as Defence Secretary (1979–81), Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council (1981–82). He became foreign secretary during the Falklands War in 1982 following Lord Carrington's resignation, but was removed by Margaret Thatcher in 1983 after her second election victory.
He was a leading member of the Wets during the Thatcher administration. During the 1983 general election campaign he said on the BBC's Question Time that that "Landslides don't on the whole produce successful governments".[2] This was publicly repudiated by Margaret Thatcher and he was sacked after the election. Shortly afterwards, he launched a pressure group called Conservative Centre Forward to argue for more centrist, One Nation policies. But with Thatcher at the height of her powers, it was unsuccessful.
He stood down at the 1987 election and was created a life peer as Baron Pym, of Sandy in the County of Bedfordshire. Pym was not a descendant of the 17th century Parliamentarian John Pym as has been commonly held. See Pym's own published family history. His father, Leslie Pym, was also a Member of Parliament; his grandfather, Rt. Rev. Walter Ruthven Pym, was Bishop of Bombay.
He died on 7 March 2008 after a prolonged illness, aged 86.[3]
[edit] In popular culture
Pym was the touchstone for the role of Chief Whip played by Peter Cartwright in the 1987-88 BBC TV sit-com Yes, Prime Minister. He was portrayed by Jeremy Child in the 2002 BBC production of Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play.
[edit] References
- ^ "Francis Pym : Obituary". iAnnounce. Northcliffe Media. 2008-03-07. http://www.thisisannouncements.co.uk/5854562. Retrieved 2010-10-13.
- ^ BBC News. Thatcher's Class of '79
- ^ BBC News. Former Foreign Secretary Pym Dies
[edit] Bibliography
- Obituary, The Guardian, 7 March 2008
- Obituary, The Times, 8 March 2008
- Obituary, The Independent, 8 March 2008
- Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 8 March 2008
[edit] External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Francis Pym
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