Sir Anthony John Charles Meyer, 3rd Baronet, (October 27, 1920 – December 24, 2004) was a British soldier, diplomat, and Conservative Party politician, best known for standing against Margaret Thatcher for the party leadership in 1989. He was passionately in favour of the European Union, and this and other policies led to him becoming increasingly marginalised in Thatcher's Conservative Party. October 27 is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 65 days remaining. ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ... It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in... The Conservative Party is the largest political party on the right-of-centre in the United Kingdom and the most successful party in political history based on election victories. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Origins

Meyer's grandfather, Carl Frederick Meyer was born in Hamburg, Germany into a Jewish family. He migrated to Britain in the late 19th century, when he worked for the Rothschilds, and later for De Beers; he eventually became Governor of the National Bank of Egypt and was given a hereditary baronetcy for the large donations he made to found a National Theatre in Britain. Meyer's father, Sir Frank Cecil Meyer, was vice-chairman of the De Beers diamond cartel, and from 1924 to 1929 he was Conservative Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. This article is about the city in Germany. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rothschild Coat of Arms The Mayer Amschel Rothschild family is a successful banking and finance dynasty of German Jewish origin that established operations across Europe, and was ennobled by the Austro-Hungarian and British governments. ... The De Beers Group is a Johannesburg- and London-based diamond mining and trading corporation. ... A baronet (traditional abbreviation Bart, modern abbreviation Bt), is the holder of an hereditary title awarded by the British Crown, known as a baronetcy. ... The De Beers Group is a Johannesburg- and London-based diamond mining and trading corporation. ... For other uses, see Diamond (disambiguation). ... A cartel is a group of legally independent producers whose goal it is to fix prices, limit supplies and limit competition. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Map sources for Great Yarmouth at grid reference TG5207 Great Yarmouth is an English coastal town in the county of Norfolk. ... Norfolk (pronounced IPA: ) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ...

Education and war service

Anthony Meyer was educated at Eton College, like his father, and he inherited the baronetcy at the age of 15 when his father died in a hunting accident. Like his father, he also attended New College, Oxford, but after one year he joined the Scots Guards in 1941, the same year he married Barbadee Knight, and they would have 1 son and 3 daughters. During the battle for Caen, in the breakout from the Normandy invasion beaches he was seriously wounded when the tank he was travelling in was hit, and he spent the next nine months on his back in hospital. During this time he read extensively to make up for his lost years at Oxford, but decided not to return to university. Instead, he joined HM Treasury where he mostly worked on winding up the affairs of the Polish government-in-exile. The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a prestigious and internationally known independent school for boys. ... College name New College Named after Blessed Virgin Mary Established 1379 Sister College Kings College Warden Prof. ... The Scots Guards are a regiment of the British Army and have a long and proud history stretching back hundreds of years. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... Location within France Hôtel dEscoville, 16th century, Caen Anonymous pen-and-ink birds-eye view of the fortifications of Caen (Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris) South Wall of the Castle, a huge fortress in the center of the city Town Hall of Caen Caen train station. ... Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ... The new eastern entrance to HM Treasury HM Treasury (Her/His Majestys Treasury) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for and putting into effect the UK Governments financial and economic policy. ... The Government of the Polish Republic in exile maintained a continuous existence in exile from the time of the German occupation of Poland in September 1939 until the end of the Communist rule in Poland in 1990. ...

Diplomatic career

In 1946 he passed the Foreign Service examinations, and from 1951 to 1956 he was appointed to the British Embassy in Paris, where he became First Secretary in 1953. The subsequent appointment to the embassy in Moscow was not so enjoyable – he did not speak the language, and confined to the "diplomatic ghetto" through the Soviet government's ban on foreign contacts with its citizens, he said he did not have a job to do. He was rescued by a Soviet attempt to compromise him – he reported an attempt to lure him into a cab by a woman agent to the ambassador, who put Meyer and his family on the next plane home. Between 1958 and 1962, he worked at the Foreign Office on European political problems, at a time when the Office was changing its policy from being against the "Common Market" to in favour of Britain's joining it. 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city, with the skyscrapers of La Défense business district 3 miles behind. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ... Moscow (Russian: Москва́, Moskva, IPA: ) is the capital of Russia and the countrys principal political, economic, financial, educational and transportation center, located on the river Moskva. ... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom abroad. ... The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ...

Political career

Finding a party, and a seat

The death of his mother in 1962 provided Meyer with the family's wealth, and he decided to enter politics to support his pro-European views. He later said that he was initially undecided whether to stand for the Conservatives or the Liberal Party, but his admiration for the Conservative prime minister Harold Macmillan swung his choice. In 1963 he was selected to fight the constituency of Eton and Slough, then held by Labour's leftwing internationalist Fenner Brockway. In the 1964 General Election, Meyer won the Eton and Slough seat by 11 votes, gaining respect by ignoring his constituency party's advice to campaign on the race issue, which could have swung a number of votes in that constituency at the time. His was one of only two Conservative gains in that election. Recognising that he would only be in the seat temporarily, Meyer made the most of his time in Parliament, advocating Britain's joining the Common Market, strengthening the United Nations, and voting to abolish the death penalty. In the 1966 General Election he lost his seat to Labour's Joan Lestor by 4,663 votes. 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party (the SDP) to form a new party which would become... The Right Honourable Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894–29 December 1986), nicknamed Supermac and Mac the Knife, was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. ... Template:C20YearInnTopic 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... The Eton and Slough constituency was created in 1945 as part of an interim redistribution of seats in areas which had experienced large population growth since the last redistribution had taken effect in 1918. ... Archibald Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway (November 1, 1888 - 1988) was a British anti-war activist and politician. ... The United Kingdom general election of 1964 result was a very slim majority for the Labour Party, of 4, and led to their first government since 1951. ... United Nations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The UK general election in 1966 was called by Harold Wilson because his government, elected in the 1964 election, had an unworkably small majority. ...

His liberalism and part-Jewish ancestry made him almost untouchable in the Conservative party, and his applications to stand in six constituencies (including Windsor, where he lived) were rejected, but eventually fellow Old Etonian Nigel Birch recommended Meyer to replace him in the constituency of Flintshire West, in north-eastern Wales. He returned to Parliament at the 1970 General Election. Windsor (IPA: usually , but also ) is a suburban town and tourist destination in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, South East England. ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a public school (that is, an independent, fee-charging secondary school) for boys. ... For an explanation of often confusing terms such as Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom and England, see British Isles (terminology). ... The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on June 18, 1970, and resulted in a surprise loss of power for Labour under Harold Wilson, who was replaced as Prime Minister by the Conservative leader, Edward Heath. ...

MP for Flintshire West

He became a popular MP in his new constituency, gaining a reputation for putting the interests of his constituents ahead of those of the Conservative government, e.g. by voting against the closure of the Shotton steelworks, supporting the Airbus A300B whose wings some of his constituents built, against its all-British rival the BAC311, insisting on the importance of an effective pan-European technology. After Labour's return to power in 1974, he opposed continued sanctions against the white rebel regime in Rhodesia, claiming that it was intended to transfer power "forcibly to a violent minority". Shotton can refer to: Shotton, Peterlee, County Durham, England Shotton, Sedgefield, County Durham, England Shotton, Flintshire, Wales This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Airbus S.A.S., based in Toulouse, France, is an aircraft manufacturer. ... The Airbus A300 is a short to medium range, wide-body family of aircraft manufactured by Airbus Industries between 1972 and the present. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1974 calendar). ... National motto: Sit Nomine Digna (Latin: May she be worthy of the name} Official language English Capital Salisbury Political system Parliamentary system Form of government Republic - Last President John Wrathall - Prime Minister Ian Smith Area  - Total  - % water 390 580 km² 1% Population  - 1978 est. ...

When the Conservative party returned to power under Margaret Thatcher in 1979, Meyer's type of pro-Europeanism was at odds with the Euroscepticism of the bulk of the party. When his Flintshire West constituency's boundaries were expanded and redrawn to form the Clywd North West constituency in 1983, there was an attempt by local party activists to replace him with the more Thatcherite MEP, Beata Brookes, whom Meyer managed to defeat. In 1989, Meyer put himself forward as the pro-European stalking horse for the leadership of the Conservative Party, fully expecting that one of the more prominent pro-Europeans such as Sir Ian Gilmour or Michael Heseltine would take over the role; in the event, none of them had the courage to do so, and Meyer had no illusions that he had any chance of success. In the leadership election Meyer was defeated by 314 votes to 33, but when spoilt votes and abstentions were added it was discovered that 60 MPs – a full sixth of the parliamentary party – had failed to support Thatcher. As Meyer said, "people started to think the unthinkable", and Thatcher was ousted the following year. Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... It has been suggested that Eurorealism be merged into this article or section. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Member of the European Parliament (English abbreviation MEP) is a member of the European Unions directly-elected legislative body, the European Parliament. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A stalking horse is someone whose role is to become the focal point for, or the initiator of, a debate or challenge. ... The Right Honourable Sir Ian Hedworth John Little Gilmour, 3rd Bt. ... Michael Heseltine walks out of the cabinet meeting having resigned, January 9, 1986 The Right Honourable Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC (born 21 March 1933), is a British Conservative politician and businessman. ...

Meyer was promptly deselected as a candidate for the 1992 general election by the Clwyd-North West constituency party for his "treachery", by a 2-1 majority. The deselection campaign was enlivened by a tabloid newspapers' revelation that Meyer had for 26 years had an affair with black former model and blues singer, Simone Washington, who had kept a diary of their sex games. He and his wife (since 1941), Barbadee, could laugh about the affair, which she condoned – when the tabloid press telephoned, Meyer would call out "Darling, it's someone from the Daily Sleaze asking about Simone". The UK general election, 1992 was held on April 9, 1992, and was the fourth victory in a row for the Conservatives. ...

Post-Parliamentary career

After his forced career change in 1992 Meyer became policy director for the European Movement, and in 1998 he defected to the Pro-Euro Conservative Party before becoming a member of the Liberal Democrats. After 1999 he became a lecturer on European affairs until his death at age 84 in 2004. The European Movement is an international lobby association that coordinates the efforts of associations and private individuals desiring to work towards the construction of a united Europe. ... The Pro-Euro Conservative Party was set up by John Stevens, a deselected Member of the European Parliament, who believed that the UK Conservative Party was too Eurosceptic. ... The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems, are a liberal political party based in the United Kingdom. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in...

His son, Anthony Ashley Frank Meyer, (b. 1944), succeeded him in the baronetcy.

External links

• The Guardian obituary, January 8, 2005.
• The Times obituary (PDF) via federalunion.org, January 8, 2005.
• Daily Telegraph obituary, January 10, 2005.