Michael Grylls

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Sir Michael Grylls
Member of Parliament
for North West Surrey
(Chertsey, 1970–1974)
In office
18 June 1970 – 8 April 1997
Preceded byLionel Heald
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born
William Michael John Grylls

(1934-02-21)21 February 1934
Folkestone, Kent, England
Died7 February 2001(2001-02-07) (aged 66)
England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Sarah Ford
(m. 1965)
Children2; including Bear Grylls
Alma mater
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/serviceRoyal Marines

Sir William Michael John Grylls (21 February 1934 – 7 February 2001) was a British

Scout Association's Chief Scout Bear Grylls
.

Education and early career

Grylls was born in Folkestone, Kent, the son of

Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. His eyesight was not good enough for the Navy, so he joined the Royal Marines, and saw active service, leaving in 1955, and studying Spanish at the University of Madrid.[3]

He turned his hand to business, setting up a wine importing firm called the '

civil action against him for "passing off", i.e. misrepresenting his goods by using someone else's trademark.[3]

From 1959 he served as a councillor on St. Pancras Borough Council, and was elected to the Greater London Council for Westminster and the City of London from 1967 to 1970.

Family

Grylls married Sarah (Sally) Smiles Justice Ford, the daughter of

Born Survivor
.

Career as Member of Parliament

Grylls was an unsuccessful candidate in the

constituency until his retirement at the 1997 election
.

Andrew Roth, author of Parliamentary Profiles, in assessing Grylls's ideology, accused him of "opportunistic deviations", for example favouring little state interference with business, but supporting public funds for British Aerospace, which was a large employer in his constituency.[4]

He was knighted in the 1992 New Years Honours List.[5]

Cash for questions

For some years Grylls had acted as a consultant to the lobbying company run by Ian Greer at the heart of the Cash-for-Questions inquiry. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Sir Gordon Downey, stated that Grylls had "seriously misled" the select committee on members' interests in 1990 (replaced in 1995 by the Standards and Privileges Committee) by understating the number of payments he had received for introducing clients to ministers[6] and Grylls' conduct, said Sir Gordon, had fallen "below the standards the House is entitled to expect of its members".[4][7][8]

The Committee concluded that Grylls had "received payments from Mr Greer (though not in cash) which were neither introduction commissions nor fees associated with the Unitary Tax Campaign. It is not possible to conclude that these payments originated from Mohamed Al-Fayed, although Sir Michael actively participated in the Greer lobbying operation. Sir Michael deliberately misled the Select Committee on Members' Interests in 1990 by seriously understating the number of commission payments he had received; and by omitting to inform them of other fees received from Mr Greer. Sir Michael persistently failed to declare his interests in dealings with Ministers and officials over the House of Fraser. Sir Michael's action in taking a commission payment for introducing a constituent to Mr Greer was unacceptable. There is insufficient evidence to show that Sir Michael solicited business for Mr Greer in expectation of commission payments."[8]

Other

Grylls was a member of the

heart attack
two days after his operation while recovering at home.

References

  1. ^ "A thing about Tories and drugs". 22 January 2016.
  2. ^ The Times Law Reports and Commercial Cases, part 1, ed. William Frederick Barry, Times Publishing Co., 1952, p. 468
  3. ^
    OCLC 49632006
    .
  4. ^ a b Roth, Andrew (24 February 2001). "Obituary: Sir Michael Grylls". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  5. ^ "No. 52935". The London Gazette. 29 May 1992. p. 9177.
  6. ^ "Cash For Questions - The Downey Report". BBC Politics 97. 1997. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  7. from the original on 12 May 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Select Committee on Standards and Privileges: Seventh Report". House of Commons. 1 August 1997. Retrieved 8 July 2015.

Sources

  • Times Guide to the House of Commons, Times Newspapers Limited, 1992 edition.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Chertsey
1970Feb 1974
Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for North West Surrey
Feb 19741997
Constituency abolished