Francis Pym
The Lord Pym | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pym in 1982 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 6 April 1982 – 11 June 1983 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | The Lord Carrington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Geoffrey Howe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lord President of the Council | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 14 September 1981 – 5 April 1982 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Fred Mulley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | John Nott | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 2 December 1973 – 4 March 1974 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Edward Heath | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | William Whitelaw | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Merlyn Rees | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 19 June 1970 – 2 December 1973 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Edward Heath | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Bob Mellish | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Humphrey Atkins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Francis Leslie Pym 13 February 1922 Abergavenny, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 7 March 2008 Sandy, Bedfordshire, England | (aged 86)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse |
Valerie Daglish (m. 1949) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent | Leslie Pym (father) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Education | Eton College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Magdalene College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym, MC, PC, DL (13 February 1922 – 7 March 2008) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in various Cabinet positions in the 1970s and 1980s, including Foreign, Defence and Northern Ireland Secretary, and Leader of the House of Commons. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Cambridgeshire (South East Cambridgeshire after 1983) from 1961 to 1987. Pym was made a life peer in 1987.
Early life
[edit]Pym was born at Penpergwm Lodge, near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire.[1] His father, Leslie Pym, was also an MP, while his grandfather, the Rt Revd Walter Pym, was Bishop of Bombay. He was not a direct descendant of the 17th-century parliamentarian John Pym as has been commonly held (see Pym's own published family history), but a collateral descendant.[2]
He was educated at Eton, before going on to Magdalene College, Cambridge. For much of the Second World War, Pym served in North Africa and Italy as a captain and regimental adjutant in the 9th Lancers. He was mentioned in despatches twice, awarded the Military Cross,[3] and ended his military service as a major. Pym was a managing director and landowner before he went into politics.[citation needed]
Political career
[edit]Pym entered politics as a member of Herefordshire County Council in 1958.[4] He contested Rhondda West without success in 1959 and entered Parliament in 1961 at a by-election as MP for Cambridgeshire. He held the seat until 1983, and thereafter was MP for South East Cambridgeshire until 1987. He was an opposition whip from 1964 and served under Edward Heath as Government Chief Whip (1970–1973) and Northern Ireland Secretary (1973–1974), and Margaret Thatcher as Defence Secretary (1979–1981), Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council (1981–1982). He became foreign secretary during the Falklands War in 1982 following Lord Carrington's resignation, but was removed by Thatcher the following year after her second election victory.
Pym was a leading member of the "wets", Conservative MPs sceptical of Thatcherism. During the 1983 general election campaign he said on the BBC's Question Time that "Landslides don't on the whole produce successful governments".[5] This was publicly repudiated by 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) on 9 October 1987.[6]
He was the author of The Politics of Consent, published in 1984 after he left the government. The book is a guide to the Wets' opposition to Thatcher's leadership style and politics.[citation needed]
He was portrayed by Jeremy Child in the 2002 BBC production of Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play, by Julian Wadham in the 2011 film The Iron Lady and by Guy Siner in the fourth series of The Crown.
Personal life
[edit]Pym died in Sandy, Bedfordshire, on 7 March 2008 after a prolonged illness, aged 86.[7] He was survived by his wife, Valerie (1929–2017),[8] whom he married on 25 June 1949,[9] and their four children.[2]
Arms
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References
[edit]- ^ Theakston 2004, p. 141.
- ^ a b Roth, Andrew (7 March 2008). "Obituary: Francis Pym". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "No. 37386". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 December 1945. p. 6074.
- ^ "Francis Pym: Obituary". ThisIsAnnouncements. 7 March 2008. Archived from the original on 20 September 2011.
- ^ "Thatcher's Class of '79". BBC News. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "No. 51091". The London Gazette. 14 October 1987. p. 12695.
- ^ "Former foreign secretary Pym dies". BBC News. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "Valerie Fortune (Daglish) PYM". Legacy.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Hurd, Douglas (5 January 2012). "Pym, Francis Leslie, Baron Pym (1922–2008), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/100102. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Burke's Peerage. 2000.[incomplete short citation]
Bibliography
[edit]- Pym, Francis (1984). The Politics of Consent. Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 978-0-241-11351-6.
- Theakston, Kevin (2004). British Foreign Secretaries Since 1974. Routledge. ISBN 1-135-76637-1.
External links
[edit]- 1922 births
- 2008 deaths
- 9th Queen's Royal Lancers officers
- Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge
- British Army personnel of World War II
- British people of the Falklands War
- British Secretaries of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
- Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Conservative Party (UK) life peers
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- People educated at Eton College
- People from Abergavenny
- Recipients of the Military Cross
- Secretaries of State for Defence (UK)
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