Duncan Sandys

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Duncan Edwin Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys, CH PC [1] (January 24, 1908 – November 26, 1987) was a British politician and a minister in successive Conservative governments. He was the son-in-law of Sir Winston Churchill.

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[edit] Early life

Sandys was the son of a Conservative MP and was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford. He entered the diplomatic service in 1930, serving at the Foreign Office in London as well as at the embassy in Berlin.

He became Conservative Party (UK) MP for Norwood in South London in 1935. In the same year, he married Diana Churchill, daughter of the future prime minister (after being opposed at Norwood by a candidate put up by Randolph Churchill).

In May 1935 he was in effect saying that Germany should have a predominant place in central Europe, so as to avoid clashing with Britain as an Imperial Power (Hansard, 2 May 1935, cols.595-598).

[edit] The Duncan Sandys case

In 1938 Sandys asked questions in the House of Commons on matters of national security. He was subsequently approached by two unidentified men, presumably representing the secret services, and threatened with prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. Sandys reported the matter to the Committee of Privileges who held that the disclosures of Parliament were not subject to the legislation though an MP could be disciplined by the House.[2]

[edit] Wartime

During World War II he fought with the British Expeditionary Force in Norway and was wounded in action in 1941, giving him a permanent limp. From this time he had a desk job as the Finance Member of the Army Council. His father-in-law gave him his first ministerial post during the wartime Coalition Government. While a Minister he was also Chairman of a War Cabinet Committee for defence against German flying bombs and rockets. However, he lost his seat in the 1945 general election.

[edit] Post-war

Sandys was responsible for establishing the European Movement in Britain in 1947 and served as a member of the European Consultative Assembly in 1950 to 1951. He was elected to Parliament once again in 1950 for Streatham and, when the Conservatives regained power, he was appointed as Minister of Supply in 1951. For most of his time as Minister of Supply, his Private Secretary was Jack Charles. As Minister of Housing from 1954, he introduced the Clean Air Act and in 1955 introduced green belts. He was appointed Minister of Defence in 1957 and quickly produced the 1957 Defence White Paper that proposed a radical shift in the Royal Air Force by ending the use of fighter aircraft in favour of missile technology. Though later Ministers reversed the policy, the lost orders and cuts in research were responsible for several aircraft manufacturers going out of business. As Minister of Defence he saw the rationalization (ie merger) of much of the British military aircraft and engine industry - which led ultimately to a single airframe manufacturer British Aerospace, and a single engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce.

He divorced his first wife in 1960 and married Marie-Claire (née Schmitt, previously married to Viscount Hudson) in 1962, the marriage lasting until his death. It has long been speculated that he may have been the 'headless man' whose identity was concealed during the scandalous divorce trial of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll in 1963.

Sandys continued as a minister at the Commonwealth Relations Office, later combining it with the Colonies Office, until the Conservative government fell from power in 1964. In this role he was responsible for granting several colonies their independence.

He remained in the Shadow Cabinet until 1966 when he was sacked by Edward Heath. He had strongly supported Ian Smith in the dispute over Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence. He was not offered a post when the Conservatives won the 1970 general election, but instead served as Leader of the United Kingdom delegation to the Council of Europe and Western European Union until 1972 when he announced his retirement. The next year he was made a Companion of Honour.

In 1974 he retired from Parliament and was awarded a life peerage. He followed the example of George Brown and incorporated his first name in the title Baron Duncan-Sandys, of the City of Westminster. He was an active early member of the Conservative Monday Club.

He has a daughter Laura Sandys.

[edit] Interests

Among his other interests were historic architecture. He formed the Civic Trust in 1956 and was its President; the Royal Institution of British Architects made him an honorary Fellow in 1968, and the Royal Town Planning Institute made him an honorary member. He was also a trustee of the World Security Trust.

His business activities included a Directorship of the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, which was later part of Lonrho of which he became Chairman. He was therefore caught up in the scandal in which Lonrho was revealed to have bribed several African countries and broken international sanctions against Rhodesia.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The name Sandys is pronounced sands (like the plural of sand).
  2. ^ House of Commons Paper 101 (1938-1939)

[edit] External links

[edit] Career Summary

Political offices
Preceded by
Antony Head		 Minister of Defence
1957–1959		 Succeeded by
Harold Watkinson
Preceded by
New creation		 Minister of Aviation
1959-1960		 Succeeded by
Peter Thorneycroft
Preceded by
The Earl of Home		 Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
1960–1964		 Succeeded by
Arthur Bottomley
Preceded by
Reginald Maudling		 Secretary of State for the Colonies
1962–1964		 Succeeded by
Anthony Greenwood
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