Francis Pym

For the 19th-century MP, see Francis Pym (1756–1833).

Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym, MC, PC, DL (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.

The Right Honourable The Lord Pym MC PC DL
Pym in 1982
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office 6 April 1982 – 11 June 1983
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	The Lord Carrington
Succeeded by	Geoffrey Howe
Lord President of the Council
In office 14 September 1981 – 5 April 1982
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	The Lord Soames
Succeeded by	John Biffen
Leader of the House of Commons
In office 5 January 1981 – 5 April 1982
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Norman St John-Stevas
Succeeded by	John Biffen
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 5 January 1981 – 14 September 1981
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Norman St John-Stevas
Succeeded by	The Baroness Young
Paymaster General
In office 5 January 1981 – 14 September 1981
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Angus Maude
Succeeded by	Cecil Parkinson
Secretary of State for Defence
In office 4 May 1979 – 5 January 1981
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Fred Mulley
Succeeded by	John Nott
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office 2 December 1973 – 4 March 1974
Prime Minister	Edward Heath
Preceded by	William Whitelaw
Succeeded by	Merlyn Rees
Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
In office 19 June 1970 – 2 December 1973
Prime Minister	Edward Heath
Preceded by	Bob Mellish
Succeeded by	Humphrey Atkins
Shadow Cabinet posts Shadow Foreign Secretary In office 6 November 1978 – 4 May 1979 Leader Margaret Thatcher Preceded by John Davies Succeeded by Peter Shore Shadow Leader of the House of Commons In office 19 November 1976 – 6 November 1978 Leader Margaret Thatcher Preceded by John Peyton Succeeded by Norman St John-Stevas Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food In office 4 March 1974 – 19 November 1976 Leader Edward Heath Margaret Thatcher Preceded by Norman Buchan Succeeded by Michael Jopling Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland In office 4 March 1974 – 29 October 1974 Leader Edward Heath Preceded by Merlyn Rees Succeeded by Ian Gilmour
Parliamentary offices Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal Life peerage 9 October 1987 – 7 March 2008 Member of Parliament for South East Cambridgeshire In office 9 June 1983 – 18 May 1987 Preceded by New constituency Succeeded by Jim Paice Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire In office 17 March 1961 – 13 May 1983 Preceded by Gerald Howard Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Francis Leslie Pym (1922-02-13)13 February 1922 Abergavenny, Wales
Died	7 March 2008(2008-03-07) (aged 86) Sandy, Bedfordshire, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Valerie Daglish ​ (m. 1949)​
Children	4
Parent	Leslie Pym (father)
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	Magdalene College, Cambridge

Early life

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

He was educated at Eton, before going on to Magdalene College, Cambridge. 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, 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 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) and Northern Ireland Secretary (1973–1974), and Margaret Thatcher as Defence Secretary (1979–1981), 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 was removed by 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". 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.

He was the author of The Politics of Consent, 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'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. He was survived by his wife, Valerie (1929–2017), whom he married on 25 June 1949, and their four children.

Arms

Coat of arms of Francis Pym

Crest Upon a mount Vert a hind's head erased Or gorged with a collar nebuly Azure and holding in the mouth a trefoil slipped Vert. Escutcheon Quarterly, 1st and 4th Sable on a fesse engrailed between three owls Or a trefoil slipped Vert between two cross crosslets of the first all within a bordure of the second (Pym); 2nd Vert on a cross engrailed Ermine a lion rampant reguardant Sable in the dexter canton a mullet Or (Kingsley); 3rd Sable three salmon haurient per pale Argent and Or (Orde). Supporters Dexter, rampant upon a sandy mount with tussocks of grass Proper a warhorse in trian aspect Sable mane tail and hooves Or on its head a chanfron and on the neck a crinet both Argent gorged with a double chain pendent therefrom a portcullis Gold; sinister, rampant upon a like mount a bull in trian aspect Sable armed and unguled Or also gorged with a double chain and pendent therefrom a portcullis Gold. Motto Ubi Seritur Ibi Floreat

Bibliography

• 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

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Francis Pym
• Portraits of Francis Pym at the National Portrait Gallery, London
• 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