Christopher Ward (British politician)
Christopher John Ferguson Ward (born 26 December 1942) is a British solicitor and Conservative Party politician, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for only seven months after winning a by-election.[1][2] His attempts to be selected for a safe seat were thwarted, and when he found a winnable marginal seat, he found his vote split by an unofficial Conservative candidate.
Education
Ward was educated at
Political career
County councillor
Ward was already committed to the
By-election campaign
When
Parliament
Ward made his maiden speech in a debate on capital punishment in December 1969, declaring that he wanted to vote for abolition of the death penalty with a clear conscience but that there was inadequate evidence that it was safe to do so.[9] In January 1970 he initiated a debate on housebuilding, insisting that half a million houses needed to be built every year in order to solve the housing problem; he called on the Labour government to apologise for failing to meet that target.[10]
Defeat
At the general election in June 1970, Ward tried to attract attention by campaigning on a horse and cart.[11] However, he could not prevent the Labour candidate David Stoddart retaking the seat with a majority of 5,576.[12]
Selections
Ward began to look around for a winnable constituency to fight, and was considered for the
Eton and Slough candidate
Ward had stood down from Berkshire County Council in 1970, but returned to it in 1974; he served as Deputy Leader and chair of the Finance sub-committee. He was also a member of the South East Regional Planning Council.[18] He had better luck with Parliamentary selections in 1976 when he was chosen as Conservative candidate for Eton and Slough. At the 1976 Conservative Party conference, Ward opened the discussion on "People, Parliament and the Constitution", arguing that Britain was no longer a truly free society because the Labour government wanted a state-controlled society.[19]
At the 1979 general election, Ward faced an additional challenge when a rebel local Conservative councillor who had recently served as Mayor was nominated as an unofficial candidate.[20] Ward ended up losing the election by 1,340 votes, with the unofficial candidate taking 2,359 votes.[18]
Later career
Later in 1979, Ward became Leader of Berkshire County Council (Chairman of the Policy Committee); he served until 1981 when the Conservatives lost control. He was a Governor of Chiltern Nursery Training College from 1975 to 1997, serving as Chairman in 1988–91; he also served London Conservative clubland as honorary Secretary of the United and Cecil Club from 1982 to 1987, and became club Treasurer in 1993.[3]
See also
References
- ^ "Mr Christopher Ward (Hansard)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ a b c "Five by-elections on October 30", The Times, 14 October 1969, p. 1.
- ^ a b "Who's Who", A & C Black.
- ^ "Law Society Roll of Solicitors". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
- ^ a b "The Times Diary", The Times, 6 May 1972, p. 14.
- ^ Geoffrey Charles, "New speed limits on the way", The Times, 26 February 1969, p. 4.
- ^ Denis Taylor, "Liberals hopeful at Swindon", The Times, 23 October 1969, p. 10.
- ^ Tim Jones, "Winner is shouted down", The Times, 31 October 1969, p. 1.
- ^ "Mr Hogg predicts hanging will be election issue: censure rejected by 62 votes", The Times, 16 December 1969, p. 4.
- ^ "Housing achievement still best - Minister", The Times, 28 January 1970, p. 4.
- David Butlerand Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, "The British General Election of 1970" (Macmillan, 1970), p. 321.
- ^ "The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1970", p. 213.
- ^ "The Times Diary", The Times, 6 February 1971, p. 12.
- ^ "The Times Diary", The Times, 22 January 1972, p. 12.
- ^ "The Times Diary", The Times, 4 February 1972, p. 12.
- ^ "The Times Diary", The Times, 13 June 1972, p. 14.
- ^ "Two former MPs on Tory short list for Hove", The Times, 1 October 1973, p. 2.
- ^ a b "The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1979", p. 109.
- ^ "Lord Carrington rejects Government's devolution plan for Scotland and Wales", The Times, 8 October 1976, p. 6.
- ^ David Butler and Denis Kavanagh, "The British General Election of 1979" (Macmillan, 1979), p. 421.