Francis Pym

Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym, (13 February 1922 – 7 March 2008) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in various Cabinet positions in the 1970s and 1980s, including Foreign, Defence and Northern Ireland Secretary, and Leader of the House of Commons. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Cambridgeshire (South East Cambridgeshire after 1983) from 1961 to 1987. Pym was made a life peer in 1987.

Early life Pym was born at Penpergwm Lodge, near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire. His father, Leslie Pym, was also an MP, while his grandfather, the Rt Revd Walter Pym, was Bishop of Bombay. He was not a direct descendant of the 17th-century parliamentarian John Pym as has been commonly held (see Pym's own published family history), but a collateral descendant. and ended his military service as a major. Pym was still in Italy when his father died and he inherited the estates, though retaining the family home Hazells near Sandy, Bedfordshire - which had been used as a hospital during the war - was no longer practical. Pym was offered a job by Lord Woolton in Liverpool at his Lewis's department store, so beginning a career in business, in addition to his responsibility for the family estates. Two years later, Pym purchased a stake in a Hereford-based tent maker, which he turned into a successful business.

Political career Pym entered politics as a member of Herefordshire County Council in 1958. He was later promoted to Shadow Foreign Secretary.

In the first Thatcher Government, Pym served as Defence Secretary (1979–1981), where he robustly defended the siting of cruise missiles in the UK but his successful resistance to Treasury attempts to cut the defence budget led to disagreements with Thatcher and he was moved to become Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council (1981–1982). He became foreign secretary during the Falklands War in 1982 following Lord Carrington's resignation, but his dogged pursuit of a diplomatic solution again brought him into conflict with the Prime Minister. This was publicly repudiated by Thatcher and he was sacked after the election. Shortly afterwards, he launched a pressure group called Conservative Centre Forward to argue for more centrist, one-nation policies but with Thatcher at the height of her powers, it was unsuccessful. He stood down at the 1987 election and was created a life peer as Baron Pym (of Sandy in the County of Bedfordshire) on 9 October 1987.

He was the author of , published in 1984 after he left the government. The book is a guide to the Wets' opposition to Thatcher's leadership style and politics.

He was portrayed by Jeremy Child in the 2002 BBC production of Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play, by Julian Wadham in the 2011 film The Iron Lady and by Guy Siner in the fourth series of The Crown.

Personal life Pym died in Sandy, Bedfordshire, on 7 March 2008 after a prolonged illness, aged 86. He was survived by his wife, Valerie (1929–2017), whom he married on 25 June 1949,

Arms