William Yates

William Yates (15 September 192118 April 2010) was a British Conservative politician and later an Australian Liberal politician. He was one of several to have served in both the UK and Australian parliaments.

Early life William Yates was born in 1921, son of William Yates and Mrs. John T. Renshaw of Appleby, Westmorland and educated at Uppingham School and Hertford College, Oxford.

Military service He entered the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) early in 1942 during the Second World War, and served through the war in North Africa and Italy, gaining rank of captain in 1946.

In 1955 he was elected to the House of Commons for the Conservative Party in the marginal seat of The Wrekin, being re-elected in the subsequent 1959 and 1964 general elections.

During the 1956 Suez Crisis Yates emerged as one of the government's staunchest critics. On 1 November 1956, Yates interrupted on a point of order and said, "I have come to the conclusion that Her Majesty's Government has been involved in an international conspiracy". Later that day, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union at the United Nations joined forces and demanded a cease-fire as the secret alliance between Britain, France and Israel known as the Protocol of Sèvres was revealed.

A senior partner in World Wide Industrial Consultants, Yates moved to Australia in late 1967. Yates then married Camilla Rosemary, daughter of Ernest and Eleonora Tennant, of Orford House, Ugley, near Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire and had four sons: Tom, Peter, Oliver and Mark. Yates died in 2010, aged 88.