Nicholas Soames

Nicholas Soames
The Right Honourable
Nicholas Soames
MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
In office
6 November 2003 – 10 May 2005
Leader Michael Howard
Preceded by Bernard Jenkin
Succeeded by Michael Ancram
Minister of State for the Armed Forces
In office
14 June 1994 – 2 May 1997
Prime Minister John Major
Preceded by Jeremy Hanley
Succeeded by John Reid
Member of Parliament
for Mid Sussex
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 May 1997
Preceded by Tim Renton
Majority 7,402 (13.3%)
Member of Parliament
for Crawley
In office
9 June 1983 – 1 May 1997
Preceded by Peter Hordern
(Horhsam and Crawley)
Succeeded by Laura Moffatt
Personal details
Born 12 February 1948 (1948-02-12) (age 63)
Croydon, Surrey, England
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Catherine Weatherall (1981-1988)
Serena Smith (married 1993)
Relations Lord and Lady Soames (parents)

Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames MP (born 12 February 1948), known as Nicholas Soames, is a British Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the constituency of Mid Sussex.

Soames is a former Defence minister having served in the government of Sir John Major, 1994–97. His main political interests are defence, international relations, rural affairs and industry.

Contents

Personal life

He was born in Croydon and is a grandson of British wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, the son of Lord and Lady Soames, a nephew of the former Defence Secretary Duncan Sandys and Diana Churchill; the journalist Randolph Churchill and the actress and dancer Sarah Churchill and a great nephew of the founders of the Scout movement, Robert Baden-Powell and Olave Baden-Powell. His brother is the industrialist Rupert Soames.

He has been married twice. His first marriage (1981–1988) was to Catherine Weatherall (the sister of Isobel Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne), by whom he has one son, Harry Soames. He married, secondly, Serena Smith (a niece of the Duchess of Grafton) in 1993. They have one son, and a daughter called Isabella Soames.

On 15 May 2008 Soames was disqualified from driving for two months, fined £200 and was ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and costs of £35 by Crawley magistrates after he pleaded guilty to riding a quad bike on a public road without insurance. A photograph of Soames driving with passengers who included three children and a pregnant woman, was taken from footage filmed by hunt saboteurs in Slaugham, West Sussex, on New Year's Day. It was given to the police and published by the Daily Mirror.[1]

Career

Education and military career

After attending St. Aubyns Preparatory School in Sussex, he received his secondary education at Eton College. Later, he studied at Mons Officer Cadet School. He served in the 11th Hussars in West Germany and Britain.

Early career

In 1970 he was named Equerry to HRH The Prince of Wales, he has remained a close friend of the Prince ever since and publicly criticised Diana, Princess of Wales, during the couple's estrangement. When Diana first accused the Prince of Wales of adultery with Camilla Parker Bowles, Soames told the BBC that the accusation, and Diana's fear of being slandered by her husband's courtiers, stemmed merely from Diana's mental illness, and "the advanced stages of paranoia".[2] Charles later admitted his adultery, and Soames apologised. When questioned by the inquest into the death of Diana, Soames said that he saw his job as "to speak up for the Prince of Wales". He also denied threatening Diana, and warning her, "accidents happen" in the months before she died.[3]

In 1972 he left to work as a stock broker. In 1974, he became a personal assistant; first to Sir James Goldsmith and then in 1976 to United States Senator Mark Hatfield, whose service he left in 1978 to become a director of Bland Welch, Lloyd's Brokers. Between 1979 and 1981, he was an assistant director of the Sedgwick Group.[citation needed]

Parliamentary career

Soames has been an MP since the 1983 general election. He represented Crawley from 1983 up until the 1997 general election (when Labour replaced Conservatives in Crawley and in government). In the election he won the constituency of Mid Sussex and has remained its MP since.

He has served as a Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food between 1992 and 1994, Minister of State for the Armed Forces at the Ministry of Defence under John Major between 1994 and 1997 and as the Shadow Secretary of State for Defence 2003-2005. He is also the chairman of Framlington Second Dual Trust PLC and a non-executive director of Aegis Defence Services.

During the rebellion by eurosceptic Conservative MPs against the Maastricht Treaty, Soames threatened to close down a meat-processing company owned by rebel Conservative MP Christopher Gill. Soames, Minister for Food at the time, reportedly told Gill "I will close every abattoir you own".[4]

On 9 May 2005, shortly after Michael Howard announced his intention to resign as leader of the Conservative Party, Soames resigned from the shadow cabinet. He immediately ended speculation that he intended to stand for the post of leader, saying that he merely wanted to be free to think about and influence the future of the party. He added that he was interested in joining the executive of the 1922 Committee. He later announced his support for David Cameron.[5]

According to the book Women in Parliament published in 2005, Soames has been named as the 'most sexist' MP, with several female MPs stating that he has made vulgar comments to them. One says they retaliated by shouting "click" at him — a reference to a claim that having sex with the famously fat[6] Soames was "like having a wardrobe fall on you with the key still in it".[7] In other accusations of sexual harassment it has been alleged that Soames makes repeated cupping gestures with his hands, suggestive of female breasts, when women are trying to speak in parliament, in order to distract them.[8] He allegedly harassed Alastair Campbell by telephoning him and saying "you sex god, you Adonis, you the greatest of all great men". Unknown to Soames, he was actually speaking to Campbell's young son.[9]

In November 2010, Soames told the Mail on Sunday newspaper that remarks about a royal wedding made by the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Rev Pete Broadbent, were "extremely rude, not what one expects from a bishop."[10]

On 13 July 2011, Soames was sworn of the Privy Council.[11]

See also

  • MPs elected in the UK general election, 1983
  • MPs elected in the UK general election, 1987
  • MPs elected in the UK general election, 1992
  • MPs elected in the UK general election, 1997
  • MPs elected in the UK general election, 2001
  • MPs elected in the UK general election, 2005

References

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Crawley
19831997
Succeeded by
Laura Moffatt
Preceded by
Tim Renton
Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex
1997–present
Incumbent

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Nicholas Soames — Nationalité Britannique Naissance 12 février 1948 Croydon …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Soames — may refer to:*Christopher Soames, Baron Soames, known more commonly as Lord Soames, a British cabinet minister and the last governor of Rhodesia. *Dudley Soames, the real name of the supervillain Torque of the DC Comics Nightwing . *Nicholas… …   Wikipedia

  • Christopher Soames, Baron Soames — The Right Honourable The Lord Soames GCMG GCVO CH CBE PC Governor of Southern Rhodesia In office 11 December 1979 – 18 April 1980 Monarch …   Wikipedia

  • Mary Soames, Baroness Soames — Lady Soames in der Robe einer Lady Companion des Hosenbandordens Lady Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, LG, DBE (* 15. September 1922) ist die Witwe von Christopher Soames, Baron Soames, und die Tochter von Sir Winston Churchill. Als Mary Spencer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Mary Soames — Lady Soames in der Robe einer Lady Companion des Hosenbandordens Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, LG, DBE (* 15. September 1922) ist die Witwe von Christopher Soames, Baron Soames, und die Tochter von Sir Winston Churchill. Als Mary Spencer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lord Soames — Arthur Christopher John Soames, Baron Soames (* 12. Oktober 1920 in Penn; † 16. September 1987 in Odiham) war ein konservativer britischer Politiker und Schwiegersohn von Winston Churchill. Er saß für den Wahlkreis Bedford von 1950 bis 1960 im… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Christopher Soames — Arthur Christopher John Soames, Baron Soames (* 12. Oktober 1920 in Penn; † 16. September 1987 in Odiham) war ein konservativer britischer Politiker und Schwiegersohn von Winston Churchill. Er saß für den Wahlkreis Bedford von 1950 bis 1960 im… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Emma Soames — is a British editor. She is the granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill and the one time girlfriend of Martin Amis. She was a long serving editor of the Telegraph magazine. She is now the editor of Saga magazine. Her brother is Nicholas Soames who …   Wikipedia

  • Emma Soames — Emma Soames, née le 9 septembre 1949 est une journaliste britannique. Elle a travaillé pour le magazine anglais Telegraph et collabore actuellement pour le magazine Saga. Elle est la petite fille de Winston Churchill et fut un temps la… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Mary Soames, Baroness Soames — The Right Honourable The Lady Soames LG, DBE Lady Soames, taking part in the Garter Day procession to Windsor Castle on 19 June 2006 …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”