Sir Tom Normanton (12 March 1917 – 6 August 1997) 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 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Early life and Summary

He was educated at

Malsis School Malsis School located at a mansion known as Malsis Hall in the village of Crosshills, in North Yorkshire, England, was a co-educational independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Inde ...

in North Yorkshire from 1929 to 1931 and then attended Manchester Grammar School and Manchester University. He joined the family textile business and served in the army in 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 ...

, reaching the rank of Major. His obituary stated that he was an improbable combination of the flamboyant, the phlegmatic and the industrious. He was an industrialist of some distinction, above all in the textile industry. He exhibited intense patriotism together with European idealism. He was invited back to

to present the prizes at Open Day in 1979, but Richard Francis took his place.

Political career

Normanton contested

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

in the

1959 United Kingdom general election The 1959 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 8 October 1959. It marked a third consecutive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, now led by Harold Macmillan. For the second time in a row, the Conservatives increased their ...

and 1964 general elections, but came third each time. He was elected at the 1970 general election 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 ...

(MP) for Cheadle, and stood down at the 1987 general election, when he was succeeded by Stephen Day. He 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 Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1987. From 1973 to 1979 he was a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP), in the period before the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

was directly elected. He was then elected at the

1979 European Parliament election The 1979 European Parliament election was a series of parliamentary elections held across all 9 (at the time) European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the Europea ...

as the MEP for

Cheshire East Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council. Towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Co ...

. He was re-elected in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, and served as an MEP until his defeat in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

References

External links

1917 births People educated at Manchester Grammar School Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 1997 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MEPs MEPs for the United Kingdom 1973–1979 MEPs for England 1979–1984 MEPs for England 1984–1989 People educated at Malsis School Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cheadle {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1910s-stub