Francis Pym

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

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
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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
Party	Conservative
Spouse	Valerie Daglish ​ (m. 1949)​
Children	4
Parent	Leslie Pym (father)
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	Magdalene College, Cambridge

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.

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 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, 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.

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), 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. 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. 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". 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 hide

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

• 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

• 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