John Anthony Leavey (3 March 1915 – 9 July 1999) was a British company director and

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 ...

politician.

Family business

Leavey's father George was chairman of

Smith & Nephew Smith & Nephew plc, also known as Smith+Nephew, is a British multinational medical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Watford, England. It is an international producer of advanced wound management products, arthroscopy products, ...

, then an engineering firm who had not yet specialised in medical devices. He went to

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 mixed independent, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History A committee of Nonconformist ...

and then Trinity Hall,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

before returning to east

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

where he became a director of companies involved in the weaving and matchmaking industries in

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds. The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Val ...

and

Rawtenstall Rawtenstall () is a town in the borough of Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The town lies 15 miles/24 km north of Manchester, 22 miles/35 km east of Preston and 45 miles/70 km south east of the county town of Lancaster. The town is at the ...

War service

As 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 ...

loomed, Leavey joined up and served in the

5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards The 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. It served in the Second World ...

in France and Belgium; he only just escaped at Dunkirk, being one of the last to be evacuated. On arriving back in Britain the regiment underwent training in the midlands where Leavey organised a pack of fox hounds with which to go fox hunting. He was pleased to return to liberate France after

D Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, fighting through to the end of the war. He was mentioned in despatches and reached the rank of Major. After demobilisation in 1946, Leavey was employed by the family firm of Smith and Nephew and became a Director in 1948. He joined the

Yorkshire Hussars The Yorkshire Hussars (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own) was an auxiliary unit of the British Army formed in 1794. The regiment was formed as volunteer cavalry (Yeomanry) in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars and served in the Second Boe ...

in the Territorial Army as a Major in 1952, but left in 1955.

Politics

At the 1950 general election he was picked to challenge the already well-known Labour MP

Barbara Castle Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, (''née'' Betts; 6 October 1910 – 3 May 2002), was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1979, making her one of the longest-serving female MPs in Bri ...

Blackburn East Blackburn East was a parliamentary constituency in the town of Blackburn in Lancashire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post In a fir ...

. At his second shot at the seat in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

, he cut her majority to the point at which the seat looked vulnerable. Instead of fighting again, he was selected for Heywood and Royton, a Conservative seat where the sitting MP was retiring.

Parliamentary career

Leavey won at the 1955 general election. He was a strong supporter of the government over the Suez Crisis and attacked nearby Labour MPs for supporting Gamal Abdel Nasser, being rewarded with appointment as Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Walter Monckton Walter Turner Monckton, 1st Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, (17 January 1891 – 9 January 1965) was a British lawyer and politician. Early years Monckton was born in the village of Plaxtol in north Kent. He was the eldest child of paper m ...

for one year from 1956 and later to Derick Heathcoat Amory in 1959; however, his loyalty did not stretch to accepting what he saw as government indifference to the local cotton industry. When his pressure resulted in the passing of the Cotton Industry Act 1959, it was felt to have aided his campaign locally; despite it, in 1962, he was one of five Conservative MPs to support a Labour motion of censure on the subject. Some of Leavey's campaigns attracted attention, with his call for an end to the teaching of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

in schools among them. He was insistent that he knew there had been

flying saucers A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

over Lancashire, and wanted girls who went topless to be arrested. He supported Anthony Wedgwood Benn in his campaign to allow peers to renounce their titles. In 1961 he was made Secretary to the

1922 Committee The 1922 Committee, formally known as the Conservative Private Members' Committee, is the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The committee, consisting of all Conservative backbench member ...

of Conservative backbenchers. When Prime Minister Harold Macmillan sacked seven members of his cabinet in the "

Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives (German: ), or the Röhm purge (German: ''Röhm-Putsch''), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: ''Unternehmen Kolibri''), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Ad ...

" in 1962, Leavey praised him for being ruthless with colleagues when necessary. He had a tough fight at the 1964 general election, as Labour had his seat as a target. Leavey, who had a major operation shortly before the election, was ultimately unable by 818 votes to retain it.

Business appointments

After leaving Parliament he paid more attention to his work at Smith and Nephew (which had continued in the background during his career, and seen him appointed Deputy Chairman in 1962) and also became Chairman of Wilson (Connolly) Holdings, a midlands-based firm of builders. He had other business interests and was a member of the South East London Industrial Tribunal from 1978 to 1984. In 1982 he wrote (together with Richard Bennett) an official history of Smith and Nephew from its foundation in 1856.

Recreations

Enthusiastic about country activities, Leavey continued to enjoy fox hunting and also took part in point-to-point races. He was a council member of the

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organizations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt and Kurt Hahn in 1941. Today there are organizations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are att ...

Trust from 1974 to 1992 and also became a trustee of the Kurt Hahn Trust in 1987. He also enjoyed fishing.

References

*''Who Was Who'', A&C Black *Obituary by John Barnes, ''The Independent'', 15 September 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leavey, Tony 1915 births 1999 deaths 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards officers Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Mill Hill School UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 British Army personnel of World War II Yorkshire Hussars officers