Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym, (13 February 1922 – 7 March 2008) 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 who served in various

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

positions in the 1970s and 1980s, including

Foreign Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

and

Northern Ireland Secretary Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

, and

Leader of the House of Commons The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of t ...

. He was

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 ...

(MP) for

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

( South East Cambridgeshire after 1983) from 1961 to 1987. Pym was made a life peer in 1987.

Early life

Pym was born at Penpergwm Lodge, near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire. His father,

Leslie Pym Leslie Ruthven Pym (24 May 1884 – 17 July 1945) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. The son of the Right Reverend Walter Ruthven Pym, Bishop of Bombay, Pym was educated at Bedford School and Magdalene College, C ...

, was also an MP, while his grandfather, the Rt Revd Walter Pym, was Bishop of Bombay. He was not a direct descendant of the 17th-century parliamentarian

John Pym John Pym (20 May 1584 – 8 December 1643) was an English politician, who helped establish the foundations of Parliamentary democracy. One of the Five Members whose attempted arrest in January 1642 sparked the First English Civil War, his use ...

as has been commonly held (see Pym's own published family history), but a

collateral descendant A lineal descendant, in legal usage, is a blood relative in the direct line of descent – the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of a person. In a legal procedure sense, lineal descent refers to the acquisition of estate by i ...

. He was educated at Eton, before going on to Magdalene College, Cambridge. For much of the Second World War, Pym served in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

as a captain and

regimental adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forc ...

in the 9th Lancers. He was mentioned in despatches twice, awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

, and ended his military service as a major. Pym was a managing director and landowner before he went into politics.

Political career

Pym entered politics as a member of Herefordshire County Council in 1958. He contested Rhondda West without success in 1959 and entered Parliament in 1961 at a by-election as MP for

. He held the seat until 1983, and thereafter was MP for South East Cambridgeshire until 1987. He was an opposition whip from 1964 and served under

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

as Government Chief Whip (1970–1973) and

(1973–1974), and

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

as Defence Secretary (1979–1981),

and Lord President of the Council (1981–1982). He became foreign secretary during the Falklands War in 1982 following Lord Carrington's resignation, but was removed by Thatcher the following year after her second election victory. Pym was a leading member of the "

wets During the 1980s, members of the moderate wing of the British Conservative Party who opposed some of the more hard-line policies of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher were often referred to by their opponents as "wets". Thatcher coined the usage in ...

", Conservative MPs skeptical of

Thatcherism Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and general style of manag ...

. During the 1983 general election campaign he said on the BBC's ''

Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

'' that "Landslides don't on the whole produce successful governments". This was publicly repudiated by Thatcher and he was sacked after the election. Shortly afterwards, he launched a pressure group called Conservative Centre Forward to argue for more

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...

, one-nation policies but with Thatcher at the height of her powers, it was unsuccessful. He stood down at the 1987 election and was created a life peer as Baron Pym (of Sandy in the

County of Bedford Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

shire) on 9 October 1987. He was the author of , published in 1984 after he left the government. The book is a guide to the Wets' opposition to Thatcher's leadership style and politics. He was portrayed by Jeremy Child in the 2002 BBC production of

Ian Curteis Ian Bayley Curteis (1 May 1935 – 24 November 2021) was a British dramatist and television director. Life and career Curteis was born in London on 1 May 1935, and began his career as an actor, joining Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in the m ...

's ''

The Falklands Play ''The Falklands Play'' is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had incre ...

'', by Julian Wadham in the 2011 film '' The Iron Lady'' and by

Guy Siner Guy Domville Siner (born 16 October 1947) is an American-born English actor best known for his role as Oberleutnant Hubert Gruber in the British television series Allo 'Allo!'' and Dr. Mittenhand in '' Leprechaun 4: In Space''. Early life ...

in the fourth series of ''

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

''.

Personal life

Pym died in Sandy,

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, on 7 March 2008 after a prolonged illness, aged 86. He was survived by his wife, Valerie (1929–2017), whom he married on 25 June 1949, and their four children.

Arms

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* *
Obituary, ''The Guardian'', 7 March 2008Obituary, ''The Times'', 8 March 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pym, Francis 1922 births 2008 deaths 9th Queen's Royal Lancers officers Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War II British people of the Falklands War British Secretaries of State British Secretaries of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in Herefordshire Deputy Lieutenants of Cambridgeshire Leaders of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Lord Presidents of the Council Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Eton College People from Abergavenny Recipients of the Military Cross Secretaries of State for Defence (UK) Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland 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 UK MPs 1983–1987 United Kingdom Paymasters General Welsh military personnel People from Sandy, Bedfordshire