Hugh Fraser (politician)

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For other persons named Hugh Fraser, see Hugh Fraser (disambiguation).

Sir Hugh Charles Patrick Joseph Fraser PC (23 January 1918 – 6 March 1984) was a British Conservative politician and first husband of Lady Antonia Fraser. He was a younger son of the 14th Lord Lovat and a prominent Roman Catholic.

Fraser was educated at Ampleforth College, Balliol College, Oxford, where he was President of the Oxford Union, and at the Sorbonne. During World War II, he served with the Lovat Scouts, transferring to the Airborne troops, seeing service in North Africa and Europe and leaving with the rank of Major.

Fraser was elected Member of Parliament for Stone in 1945, later Stafford and Stone following constituency boundary changes, from 1950 until 1983, and then Stafford again until his death. He served as an MP continuously from 1945 until 1984 but did not become Father of the House as he was sworn in as an MP on August 15, 1945 while James Callaghan had been sworn in on August 2, 1945 and so he, rather than Fraser, became Father following the 1983 election. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Oliver Lyttelton (1951-54), a junior minister in the War Office (1958-60) and Colonial Office (1960-62), and Secretary of State for Air (1962-64). He was an unsuccessful candidate in the Conservative Party's 1975 leadership election, gaining 16 votes in the first round challenging incumbent Edward Heath.

[edit] Private Life

Fraser married the author Lady Antonia Pakenham, daughter of the Earl and Countess of Longford, on 25 September 1956. They had six children, Benjamin Fraser, Damian Fraser, Orlando Fraser, Rebecca Fraser, Flora Fraser and Natasha Fraser, but were divorced in 1977.

Sir Hugh and Lady Antonia Fraser, together with Caroline Kennedy who was visiting at the time, were intended targets of an IRA car bomb on 23 October 1975, but the bomb exploded prematurely, killing another motorist, the well-respected cancer researcher Dr. Gordon Hamilton-Fairley, instead of them.

Sir Hugh Fraser died from lung cancer in March 1984, aged 66.

[edit] References

• (1945) The Times House of Commons 1945. The Times.
• (1950) The Times House of Commons 1950. The Times.
• (1955) The Times House of Commons 1955. The Times.

[edit] External links

• Obituary

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by: Sir Joseph Lamb	Member of Parliament for Stone 1945–1950	Succeeded by: (constituency abolished)
Preceded by: (new constituency)	Member of Parliament for Stafford and Stone 1950–1983	Succeeded by: constituency abolished
Preceded by: constituency created	Member of Parliament for Stafford 1983–1984	Succeeded by: Bill Cash