Keith David Wickenden (22 November 1932 – 9 July 1983) was a
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 who served 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 of ...
for
Dorking
Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp Br ...
from 1979 until 1983.
Early life
Keith Wickenden had an older brother named Roland, who served as chairman of
European Ferries
European Ferries Group plc was a company that operated in passenger and freight ferries, harbour operation and property management in the United Kingdom and the United States. It was taken over by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Com ...
.
Business career
Wickenden worked as a partner at a firm of chartered accountants. When his brother Roland died in 1972, he became chairman of European Ferries. In 1973, he became a director of
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.[ He also served as a director of ]Television South
Television South (TVS) was the ITV (TV network), ITV franchise holder in the South East England, South and South East of England between 1 January 1982 at 9.25 am and 31 December 1992 at 11.59 pm. The company operated under various names, ini ...
.[
During his time as chairman of European Ferries, the company made a counterbid against the UK government on the ]Port of Felixstowe
The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk, is the United Kingdom's busiest container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade. In 2017, it was ranked as 43rd busiest container port in the world and 8th in Europe, with a han ...
.[
In 1980, Wickenden announced his intention to purchase ]Sealink
Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland.
Ports served by the company included: Dover, Folkesto ...
, the major competitor of European Ferries, from British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
. In the same year, he also took over the merchant bank
A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...
Singer and Friedlander.
Political career
In 1979, he became 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 of ...
for Dorking
Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp Br ...
as a member of 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 ...
.[ He was elected with 61.4% of the vote, with a majority of 41.8% over the ]Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
.
The seat was abolished in 1983,[ and he declined running for election in the ]Mole Valley
Mole Valley is a local government district in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Dorking.
The other town in the district is Leatherhead. The largest villages are Ashtead, Fetcham and Great Bookham, in the northern third of the district. ...
seat which nearly replicated Dorking, due to a lung disorder.[
]
Personal life
Wickenden was married and had four sons. He was an experienced pilot, and often flew his own Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
to engagements.[
On 9 July 1983, Wickenden died in a plane crash. Moments after taking off from ]Shoreham Airport
Brighton City Airport , also commonly known as Shoreham Airport, is located in the parish of Lancing in West Sussex, England. It has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying i ...
in West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
, his twin engine de Havilland Dove
The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report whic ...
plunged into a bank of the River Adur
The Adur ( or ) is a river in Sussex, England; it gives its name to the Adur district of West Sussex. The river, which is long, was once navigable for large vessels up as far as Steyning, where there was a large Saxon port, but by the 11th ce ...
before catching on fire.[ An inquest into his death found the plane's engine to be at fault: instead of paying £10,000 for an engine replacement, Wickenden had paid £650 for a 1949-built engine which had been in storage for eight years before being fitted to the Dove.]
References
External links
*
1932 births
1983 deaths
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in England
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1979–1983
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. directors and chairmen
{{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1930s-stub