| The Right Honourable The Viscount Astor |
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| The future Lord Astor with his mother and aunt in 1913. | |
| Member of the House of Lords | |
| In office 30 September 1952 – 7 March 1966 |
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| Member of Parliament for Wycombe |
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| In office 25 October 1951 – 30 September 1952 |
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| Preceded by | John Haire |
| Succeeded by | John Hall |
| Member of Parliament for Fulham East |
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| In office 14 November 1935 – 5 July 1945 |
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| Preceded by | John Wilmot |
| Succeeded by | Michael Stewart |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 August 1907 |
| Died | 7 March 1966 (aged 58) Nassau, Bahamas |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Kathleen Elinor Norton Phillipa Victoria Hunloke Janet Bronwen Alun Pugh |
| Relations | Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor Nancy Witcher Langhorne |
William Waldorf Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor (13 August 1907 – 7 March 1966) was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician and a member of the prominent Astor family.
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Known as Bill Astor, he was the son of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor and Nancy Langhorne. He was educated at Eton and at New College, Oxford.
In 1932, Astor was appointed secretary to the Earl of Lytton, League of Nations Committee of Enquiry in what was then known as Manchuria. First elected to the House of Commons in 1935, he served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Fulham East until 1945. Between 1936 and 1937 he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty Sir Samuel Hoare, who was then made Secretary of State for the Home Department in the new cabinet of Neville Chamberlain in 1937.
Astor left politics for a time, but returned as the Conservative MP for Wycombe in the 1951 general election, serving for two years. On his father's passing in 1952, he inherited his title, becoming the 3rd Viscount Astor. Astor took his seat in the House of Lords, forcing a by-election in Wycombe which was won by the Conservative candidate John Hall. During the 1963 Profumo Affair Astor was accused of having an affair with Mandy Rice-Davies. In response to being told during one of the trials arising out of the scandal that Astor had denied having an affair with her, Rice-Davies famously replied, "Well he would, wouldn't he?"
Astor then took over the family's Cliveden estate in Buckinghamshire, where he and his family continued to live until 1966. Active in thoroughbred horse racing, he inherited Cliveden Stud, a horse farm and breeding operation in the village of Taplow near Maidenhead.
Lord Astor married three times:
Lord Astor died in Nassau, Bahamas at age 58 from a heart attack.[1]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Charles Wilmot |
Member of Parliament for Fulham East 1935–1945 |
Succeeded by Michael Stewart |
| Preceded by John Haire |
Member of Parliament for Wycombe 1951–1952 |
Succeeded by Sir John Hall |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Waldorf Astor |
Viscount Astor 1952–1966 |
Succeeded by William Waldorf Astor |