Donald Stewart Box (22 November 1917 – 12 July 1993) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician.

Early and military career

Born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Box was educated at

The Cathedral School, Llandaff The Cathedral School, Llandaff (Welsh: ''Ysgol y Gadeirlan, Llandaf'') is a coeducational independent day school located in Llandaff, a district north of the Welsh capital Cardiff. Originally established as a choral foundation to train choir boys ...

, St John's School in Pinner, and

Harrow County School for Boys Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency ...

. He joined the stockbrokers' company Henry J. Thomas at the age of 17. At the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and served in the middle east in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, Palestine and

Transjordan Transjordan may refer to: * Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River * Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan * Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946) * Hashemite Kingdom of ...

. This experience gave him knowledge and interest in the Middle East refugee problem which he took up later in life.

Political involvement

He returned to Cardiff following the war and became a member of the Cardiff Stock Exchange and a partner in Lyddon & Company, stockbrokers. Having joined the Young Conservatives, Box graduated to the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

and fought Newport at the 1955 general election and a by-election the following year.

Parliamentary career

For the 1959 general election, Box was selected for Cardiff North and won the seat. He made his mark as a strong opponent of strikes (especially unofficial ones). He championed the cause of business and of redevelopment of Cardiff's docklands, and blamed any failures on the left. In line with his constituency, in which a large proportion of the property was

leasehold A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...

, he supported leasehold reform. Box had good looks and an easygoing manner, who could come up with amusing phrases denigrating his political opponents; in 1966, despite being nearly 50 and having been an MP for six years, he was described as "young and inexperienced" by Speaker Horace King. He was a strong opponent of the bill to suspend

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

in 1965, and criticised excessive welfare payments.

Stockbroking

After losing his seat in the 1966 general election, Box returned to Lyddon & Company. From 1973 he was a member of the London Stock Exchange when regional members were allowed. He became a Director of N.M. Rothschild in 1988. He died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

References

*Obituary, ''The Times'', 15 July 1993. {{DEFAULTSORT:Box, Donald 1917 births 1993 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cardiff constituencies People educated at Harrow High School Politicians from Cardiff UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Welsh stockbrokers People educated at The Cathedral School, Llandaff Businesspeople from Cardiff 20th-century Welsh businesspeople