Sir John Fletcher-Cooke (8 August 1911 – 19 May 1989) was a British

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 ...

politician. In

World War II 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 ...

Fletcher-Cooke joined the R.A.F. and was captured by the Japanese in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. He was a prisoner for three and a half years, mostly in Japan; he wrote about his experiences in "The Emperor's Guest". He rejoined the colonial service after the war and was posted to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and Palestine. From 1948 to 1951 he was a Counsellor in the U.K. Mission to the U.N. in New York, where he met his future wife, Alice Egner. He served five years as Colonial Secretary,

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, and later Deputy Governor,

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

. He was the Conservative candidate at the Luton by-election in November 1963, following the resignation of the former "radio doctor" and Conservative Minister Charles Hill. Hill had a majority of over 5,000 at the 1959 general election, but the

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

seat was won by the Labour candidate Will Howie with a majority of 3,74

Fletcher-Cooke entered the British House of Commons, House of Commons the following year at the

1964 general election The following elections occurred in 1964. Africa * 1964 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1964 Central African Republic parliamentary election * 1964 Central African Republic presidential election * 1964 Dahomeyan general election * 1964 Gabo ...

, as

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for

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. However, he lost his seat two years later, at the 1966 general election, to

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's Bob Mitchell, and never re-entered

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. His younger brother

Charles Fletcher-Cooke Sir Charles Fletcher Fletcher-Cooke, QC (5 May 1914 – 24 February 2001) was a British politician. Early life Fletcher-Cooke was born into a professional London family, though one that was financially diminished because of his father's death ...

, was Conservative MP for Darwen from 1951 to 1983. The two clashed in the House of Commons over the Labour government's imposition of sanctions against

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

, following the colony's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965 under Ian Smith. John opposed sanctions, but his brother supported the

Family

John was the son of Charles Arthur Cooke (1883–1914) and Gwendoline May née Bradford (1883–1977). He married first Alice E Egner on 3 September 1949 in New York; and second in Q1 1977 in

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

Marie L Fournier de la Barre (1920–?).

References

The Loss of Luton
(Time Magazine, 1963-11-15) *

External links

* 1911 births 1989 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1964–1966 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1910s-stub