Sir Walter Ian Percival QC (11 May 1921 – 4 April 1998) was a British

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politician.

Background

Percival was educated at

Latymer Upper School (Slowly Therefore Surely) , established = , closed = , sister_school = Godolphin and Latymer School , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , head_label = H ...

and

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Cam ...

. He was commissioned from Sandhurst into

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in 1941 and served in the

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and

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, attaining the rank of

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. He became a barrister, was

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from the

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in 1948, and also worked as a part-time economics professor. He served as a councillor on Kensington Borough Council 1952–59. He was made a

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in 1963, and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

in 1979. He married Madeline Cooke in 1942, having met her in Burma, and had a son and a daughter. The family home was in Tenterden, Kent. On retirement, he supported several causes, including the establishment of a hospital in India after the

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. In 1993 he became the head of a Trust to complete the hospital, following lengthy legal negotiations with

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while he was engaged as an attorney in the US law firm Sidley and Austin. He died before its completion.

Political career

He first stood unsuccessfully in the Battersea North constituency at the 1951 general election and again at the 1955 election. He was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

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at the 1959 general election, holding the seat until he retired at the 1987 election. Although coveting a Ministerial post, he was overlooked for the position he wanted in 1979 when Margaret Thatcher came to power, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Instead, he served as Solicitor General from 1979 to 1983. On some issues, Percival's political views were to the right of some in the Conservative Party; he campaigned unsuccessfully to restore the death penalty (introducing an unsuccessful Bill to restore it for terrorists in 1984), and held strong views on the rigorous application of the law. He also called for the criminalisation of clubs and newsletters that existed for the purpose of allowing homosexuals to meet one another. Percival was a

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References

*''The Times Guide to the House of Commons'',

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, 1951, 1966 & 1983 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Percival, Ian 1921 births 1998 deaths People educated at Latymer Upper School Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) officers Councillors in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Members of Kensington Metropolitan Borough Council English barristers UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Solicitors General for England and Wales 20th-century British lawyers Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England British Army personnel of World War II English King's Counsel Knights Bachelor 20th-century English lawyers British people in British Burma