Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames (born 12 February 1948) is a British Conservative politician, widely known as Nicholas Soames. February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and the oldest political party in the United Kingdom. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ...

He is Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex and was Minister of State for the Armed Forces. His main political interests are defence, international relations, rural affairs and industry. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Mid Sussex is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Minister of State is a title borne by officials in certain countries governed under the parliamentary system. ... In military science, defense (or defence) is the art of preventing an enemy from conquering territory. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      International relations (IR), a branch of political science, is the study of foreign affairs and global issues among states within the international system, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multinational corporations (MNCs). ... The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in England. ...

He was born in Croydon and is a grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, the son of Lord Soames and Baroness 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. It has been suggested that Central Croydon be merged into this article or section. ... Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. ... Arthur Christopher John, Baron Soames GCMG GCVO CBE PC (October 12, 1920 – September 16, 1987) was a British Conservative politician and the son-in-law of Winston Churchill. ... The Right Honourable Mary Soames, Lady Soames, LG, DBE (born 15 September 1922) is the widow of Christopher Soames, Baron Soames. ... The Secretary of State for Defence is the senior United Kingdom government minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence. ... Duncan Edwin Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys, CH PC [1] (24 January 1908 – 26 November 1987) was a British politician and a minister in successive Conservative governments. ... Diana Churchill (July 11, 1909-1963) was the eldest daughter of Sir Winston Churchill and Clementine Ogilvy Hozier. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer Churchill (May 28, 1911-June 6, 1968) was the son of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... A contemporary dancer rehearsing in a dance studio Dance generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ... Sarah Millicent Hermione Tuchet-Jesson, Baroness Audley (née Spencer-Churchill) (October 7, 1914 – September 24, 1982) was a British actress and dancer. ... Scouting is a worldwide youth organization. ... Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB (February 22, 1857 - January 8, 1941) was a soldier, writer and founder of the world scouting movement. ... Olave Baden-Powell as Chief Guide for Britain in 1919 Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell, GBE (February 22, 1889 – 19 June 1977) was born Olave St Clair Soames in Chesterfield, England. ...

He has been married twice. His first marriage (1981-1988) was to Catherine Weatherall (the sister of the Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne), by whom he has one son. He married Serena Smith (a niece of the Duchess of Grafton) in since 1993. They have one son and one daughter. For the record label, see Marriage Records. ... Ann FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton (b. ...

Soames is a close friend of HRH The Prince of Wales and publicly criticised Diana, Princess of Wales during the couple's estrangement. He is a rugby union fan and admits being moved to tears by the English team's victory in the Rugby Union World Cup. Soames says that acts of courage, as well as military bands playing Land of Hope and Glory also can move him to tears (Broadcasting House, BBC Radio 4, 19 September 2004). The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George[2]; born 14 November 1948), is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances;[2] née Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. ... A rugby union scrum. ... Fans of Janet Jackson, at Much Music in Toronto The word fan refers to someone who has an intense, occasionally overwhelming liking of a person, group of persons, work of art, idea, or trend. ... The tear system. ... The William Webb Ellis Trophy, the main prize of the Rugby Union World Cup The Rugby World Cup is the premier international Rugby Union contest in the world, first held jointly in Australia and New Zealand in 1987, a full 33 years after the first Rugby League World Cup and... Bravery and Fortitude redirect here. ... Land of Hope and Glory is an English patriotic song. ... Broadcasting House is a current affairs programme on BBC Radio 4. ... BBC Radio 4 is a UK domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... is the 262nd day of the year (263rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Career

Education and military career

After attending St. Aubyns 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. He is currently the Honorary Colonel of the Bristol University Officer Training Corps. Secondary education - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a public school (privately funded and independent) for boys, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. It is located in Eton, Berkshire, near Windsor in England, situated north of Windsor... The 11th Hussars (Prince Alberts Own) was a British Army cavalry regiment. ...

Early career

In 1970 he became Equerry to the Prince of Wales. 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 Lloyds Brokers. Between 1979 and 1981, he was an assistant director of Sedgwick Group. This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... A Stock broker sells or buys stock on behalf of a customer. ... Sir James Goldsmith (1933 - 1997) was a British businessman and founder of the euro-sceptic Referendum Party. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Politics Portal      The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral United States Congress, the... Mark Odom Hatfield (born July 12, 1922) is an American politician from Oregon. ... In relation to a company, a director is an officer (that is, someone who works for the company) charged with the conduct and management of its affairs. ...

Parliamentary career

Soames has been an MP without interruption since the 1983 general election. He represented Crawley from 1983 up until 1997 (the year of the Labour election victory). In the election he won the constituency of Mid Sussex and has remained its MP since. The UK general election, 1983 was held on June 9, 1983 and gave the Conservatives and Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945. ... Crawley is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... The UK general election, 1997 was one of the largest election victories in the history of the twentieth century. ... Mid Sussex is a local government district in South East England - part of the county of West Sussex. ...

He has served as a Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry for 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. In the parliamentary systems of several Commonwealth countries, such as Canada and Australia, it is customary for the prime minister to appoint parliamentary secretaries (in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, parliamentary assistants) from their caucus to assist cabinet ministers with their work. ... The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a UK government department, dealing with agriculture, fisheries and food safety. ... The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. ... Sir John Major, KG, CH (born 29 March 1943) is a former British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the British Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. ... The Official Loyal Opposition Shadow Cabinet (normally referred to simply as The Shadow Cabinet) is, in British parliamentary practice, a group of members from Her Majestys Loyal Opposition whose job it is to scrutinise their opposite numbers in government and come up with alternative policies. ... The Secretary of State for Defence is the senior United Kingdom government minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence. ... Aegis Defence Services is a London, U.K.–based private military contractor with overseas offices in Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the USA. Formerly known as Sandline International, Aegis provides specialist security and risk management solutions to counter extreme threats. ...

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, said to Gill: "I will close every abattoir you own". [1] Euroscepticism is scepticism about, or disagreement with, the purposes of the European Union, sometimes coupled with a desire to preserve national sovereignty. ... The Maastricht Treaty (formally, the Treaty of European Union, TEU) was signed on February 7, 1992 in Maastricht, Netherlands after final negotiations in December 1991 between the members of the European Community and entered into force on November 1, 1993 during the Delors Commission. ... Christopher Gill (born October 28, United Kingdom. ...

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. is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... In British politics, the 1922 Committee consists of all backbench Conservative Members of Parliament, though when the party is in opposition, frontbench MPs other than the party leader may also attend its meetings. ... David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom, positions he has occupied since December 2005. ...

Criticisms

Soames has been referred to in Private Eye and by some Members of Parliament as Bunter after the famously portly public schoolboy in Frank Richards' Billy Bunter books. Private eye may mean: Look up Private eye on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Private Eye a fortnightly British satirical magazine-newspaper, edited by Ian Hislop (as of 2005) A private investigator, a private detective for hire (see also crime fiction and detective fiction) Private Eye, a song by Alkaline Trio... 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. ... Frank Richards was the nom de plume of two 20th century authors. ... Billy Bunter, the Fat blaen-y-maes man, is a real character created by Charles Hamilton (using the nom de plume of Frank Richards) for stories set at Greyfriars School in the boys weekly magazine The Magnet (published from 1908 to 1940). ...

In 1996, he was criticised by political comedian Mark Thomas in his Channel 4 television programme, who suggested that 14 May 1996 should be National Soames Day. [2] Thomas accused him of dishonestly registering some inherited heirlooms, including a "three tier mahogany buffet with partially-reeded slender upright balustrade supports", as conditionally exempt works of art, which do not attract inheritance tax if the public has access to them. Thomas claimed the public had not been granted access. [3] A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... Mark Clifford Thomas (born 11 April 1963) is an English comedian, presenter, political activist and reporter from south London. ... Channel 4 is a public-service British television station, broadcast to all areas of the United Kingdom (and also the Republic of Ireland), which began transmissions in 1982. ... Television series redirects here. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... In the United Kingdom, Death Duty was first introduced as a tax on estates in England and Wales over a certain value from 1796, then called legacy, succession and estate duties. ... Public is of or pertaining to the people; belonging to the people; relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community; opposed to private; as, the public treasury, a road or lake. ...

Also Harry Hill mentioned him as number one in the "National Index of A Big Face".

Soames, known as a bon viveur (he was once called a "one-man food mountain" by Tony Banks, Labour MP) with little appetite for political correctness, clashed with a businessman at a top Chinese restaurant in summer 2004. Afterwards, The Sunday Times (18 July 2004, p3) dubbed him Fat Boy Dim. It has been suggested that Soames was the unnamed senior Conservative at the 2004 party conference who was quoted in The Guardian as allegedly saying that "the trouble is that the Tory party is being run by Michael Howard, Maurice Saatchi and Oliver Letwin, and none of them really know what it is to be English" (The New Statesman and The Sunday Telegraph have printed a similar quote bemoaning the fact that "Saatchi, Michael Howard and Oliver Letwin are in charge; could they know how Englishmen felt?"). The suggestion that these three men might not be acceptable as truly English could be interpreted as evidence of anti-Semitism, as Saatchi, Howard and Letwin are all of Jewish origin. Anthony Louis Banks, Baron Stratford (8 April 1943 – 8 January 2006), usually known as Tony Banks, was a British politician and Labour Party MP and member of the House of Lords. ... The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International which is in turn owned by News Corporation. ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... The Rt Hon. ... Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi, born June 21, 1946 is the co-founder of advertising agencies Saatchi and Saatchi and M&C Saatchi. ... Dr. Oliver Letwin, MP (born May 19, 1956, Hampstead), British Member of Parliament for West Dorset, and Chairman of the Policy Review and Chairman of the Conservative Research Department. ... The New Statesman is a left-of-centre political weekly published in London. ... This article concerns the British newspaper. ...

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. One says they retaliated by shouting "click" at him — a reference to a claim that having sex with him was "like having a wardrobe fall on you with the key still in". It has frequently been alleged that Soames makes repeated cupping gestures with his hands, suggestive of female breasts, when women are trying to speak in parliament, to sexually harass and distract them from performing politically. [4] He is also alleged to have attempted to harrass Director of Communications Alistair Campbell by phoning 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.[5] Director of Communications is a senior executive position found in most corporations in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. ... Alistair Campbell may refer to: The former Zimbabwean cricket captain The poet from the Cook Islands The former director of Communications and Strategy for 10 Downing Street This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Soames often heckles "Old Labour" MPs such as John Prescott during Prime Minister's Question Time. He has been accused of class snobbery and bullying, due to reports that he made a habit of reguarly addressing Prescott with the phrase "Mine's a gin and tonic, Giovanni, and would you ask my friend what he's having", a reference to Prescott's former employment as a ship's steward. [6] John Leslie Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British Labour Party politician, former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Secretary of State and current Member of Parliament for the constituency of Hull East. ... Prime Ministers Questions is a Parliamentary practice in the United Kingdom where every Wednesday when the House of Commons is sitting, the Prime Minister spends half an hour answering questions from MPs. ...

Type Bicameral Houses House of Commons House of Lords Speaker of the House of Commons The Right Honourable Michael Martin MP Lord Speaker Hélène Hayman, Baroness Hayman, PC Members 1377 (646 Commons, 731 Peers) Political groups (as of May 5, 2005 elections) Labour Party Conservative Party Liberal Democrats... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Crawley is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... The UK general election, 1983 was held on June 9, 1983 and gave the Conservatives and Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945. ... The UK general election, 1997 was one of the largest election victories in the history of the twentieth century. ... Laura Jean Moffatt (born 9 April 1954) is a politician in the United Kingdom. ... Ronald Timothy Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry, PC (b. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Mid Sussex is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... The UK general election, 1997 was one of the largest election victories in the history of the twentieth century. ...

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

This is a list of members of Parliament elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1983 in the 1983 general election, for the 49th Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... This is a list of members of Parliament elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1987 in the 1987 general election, for the Fiftieth Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... This is a list of members of Parliament elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in the United Kingdom in the 1992 general election, for the Fifty First Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... This is a list of MPs elected to the House of Commons at the United Kingdom general election, 1997, arranged by constituency. ... This is a list of MPs elected to the House of Commons for the Fifty-Third Parliament of the United Kingdom at the United Kingdom general election, 2001, arranged by constituency. ... This is a list of MPs elected in the UK general election, 2005 to the House of Commons for the Fifty-Fourth Parliament of the United Kingdom at the United Kingdom general election, 2005, arranged by constituency. ...

External links

• Nicholas Soames official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Nicholas Soames MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Nicholas Soames MP
• The Public Whip - Nicholas Soames MP voting record
• BBC News - Nicholas Soames profile 16 March 2006
• ThePeerage.com - Person Page 10627 family details
• Open Directory Project - Nicholas Soames directory category
• Harry Hill Sketch about the "National Index of A Big Face" Featuring Soames