Francis Pym

Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym, (13 February 1922 – 7 March 2008) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in various Cabinet positions in the 1970s and 1980s, including Foreign, Defence and Northern Ireland Secretary, and Leader of the House of Commons. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Cambridgeshire (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.^[1] His father, Leslie Pym, 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 as has been commonly held (see Pym's own published family history), but a collateral descendant.^[2]

He was educated at Eton, before going on to Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1940. The following year, his studies were interrupted by military service. For much of the Second World War, Pym served in North Africa and Italy as a captain and regimental adjutant in the 9th Lancers. He was mentioned in despatches twice, awarded the Military Cross,^[3] and ended his military service as a major. Pym was still in Italy when his father died and he inherited the estates, though retaining the family home Hazells - which had been used as a hospital during the war - was no longer practical. Pym was offered a job by Lord Woolton in Liverpool at his Lewis's department store, so beginning a career in business, in addition to his responsibility for the family estates. Two years later, Pym purchased a stake in a Hereford-based tent maker, which he turned into a successful business.^[4]

Political career

Pym entered politics as a member of Herefordshire County Council in 1958.^[5] He contested Rhondda West without success in 1959 and entered Parliament in 1961 at a by-election as MP for Cambridgeshire. 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 as Government Chief Whip (1970–1973), playing a critical role during the passage of the European Community Bill (1972), which ensured British entry into Europe, as well as the contentious Industrial Relations Bill (1971). He subsequently joined the Heath Cabinet as Northern Ireland Secretary (1973–1974) for a brief but difficult twelve weeks before the government left office.

In opposition, Pym continued to shadow Northern Ireland, in addition to being shadow Agriculture spokesman until June 1974, when he gave up Ulster. In the 1975 Conservative Party leadership election, Pym voted for Heath in the first round and then supported his friend William Whitelaw in the second. Soon after Mrs Thatcher became Conservative leader, Pym stepped down from the Shadow Cabinet for a few months due to ill health. He returned as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons in January 1976 and led the opposition to the government's devolution legislation, and did so with some skill, enhancing his reputation.^[6] He was later promoted to Shadow Foreign Secretary.

In the first Thatcher Government, Pym served as Defence Secretary (1979–1981), where he robustly defended the siting of cruise missiles in the UK but his successful resistance to Treasury attempts to cut the defence budget led to disagreements with Mrs Thatcher and he was moved to become Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council (1981–1982). He became foreign secretary during the Falklands War in 1982 following Lord Carrington's resignation, but his dogged pursuit of a diplomatic solution again brought him into conflict with the Prime Minister.^[4] He was removed by Mrs Thatcher the following year after her second election victory.

Pym was a leading member of the "wets", Conservative MPs sceptical of Thatcherism. During the 1983 general election campaign he said on the BBC's Question Time that "Landslides don't on the whole produce successful governments".^[7] 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, 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 Bedfordshire) on 9 October 1987.^[8]

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.^{[citation needed]}

He was portrayed by Jeremy Child in the 2002 BBC production of Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play, by Julian Wadham in the 2011 film The Iron Lady and by Guy Siner in the fourth series of The Crown.

Personal life

Pym died in Sandy, Bedfordshire, on 7 March 2008 after a prolonged illness, aged 86.^[9] He was survived by his wife, Valerie (1929–2017),^[10] whom he married on 25 June 1949,^[11] and their four children.^[2]

Arms

References

1. ^ Theakston 2004, p. 141.
2. ^ Roth, Andrew (7 March 2008). "Obituary: Francis Pym". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
3. ^ No. 37386. 13 December 1945. p. 6074.
4. ^ Morris, Ted (2025). Managing Decline: British Foreign Secretaries of the Twentieth Century. Troubador. p. 437. ISBN 978-1-83628-567-0.
5. ^ "Francis Pym: Obituary". ThisIsAnnouncements. 7 March 2008. Archived 20 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
6. ^ Hoggart, Simon (8 December 1977). "When the Speaker took the voices". The Guardian. p. 15.
7. ^ "Thatcher's Class of '79". BBC News. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
8. ^ No. 51091. 14 October 1987. p. 12695.
9. ^ "Former foreign secretary Pym dies". BBC News. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
10. ^ "Valerie Fortune (Daglish) PYM". Legacy.com. Archived 8 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
11. ^ Hurd, Douglas (5 January 2012). "Pym, Francis Leslie, Baron Pym (1922–2008), politician". 100102.

Bibliography

• Horn, Geoff (2025). The Battle for British Entry into the European Community: Whips and Anti-Marketeers. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-031-97106-8.
• Pym, Francis (1984). The Politics of Consent. Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 978-0-241-11351-6.
• Theakston, Kevin (2004). British Foreign Secretaries Since 1974. Routledge. ISBN 1-135-76637-1.

External links

• Obituary, The Guardian, 7 March 2008
• Obituary, The Times, 8 March 2008
• Obituary, The Independent, 8 March 2008
• Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 8 March 2008