Sir John Anthony Langford-Holt (30 June 1916 – 23 July 1993) was a British

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 in ...

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 Shrewsbury from 1945 to 1983. Unlike most other members of Parliament, Sir John made it clear that he would never seek ministerial office and would refuse it he were offered such a post.

Biography

He was born in Studdale,

Waldershare Waldershare is a village near Dover in Kent, England. In 1086, the village was in the hundred of Eastry in the ancient Lathe of Eastry.Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

on 30 June 1916, son of Ernest and Christine Langford-Holt, and like most of his family educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

; his grandfather, George Jones Holt, had served as Mayor of Shrewsbury. During 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 opposi ...

, he served as a pilot, first in the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

and later with the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

. During his political career, his positions included serving on the Parliamentary Science Committee, the Estimates Committee, the Expenditure Committee and the Select Committee on Defence. During Churchill's later years, he was entrusted by the Tory Whips to look after the grand old man himself. He was knighted in 1962. He was married four times, firstly to Elisabeth Neustadtl in 1943. The couple were divorced in 1951, and she married Major Robert Rivers-Bulkeley. In 1953, he married Flora Innes Stuart, daughter of Ian St Clair Stuart,Who's Who 1968, A. & C. Black, 1968, p. 1754 but the marriage was dissolved in 1969, after which he married Maxine Veale in 1971. After the couple divorced in 1982, he was married for the last time to Irene Kerr. He died in London on 23 July 1993, aged 77.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979''. *

External links

* 1916 births 1993 deaths Military personnel from Kent Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 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 People educated at Shrewsbury School Fleet Air Arm aviators Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1910s-stub