Peter Harding

Infobox Military Person
name= Peter Harding
lived= 2 December 1933–
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=


caption= Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Peter Harding
Crown Copyright
nickname=
allegiance= flag|United Kingdom
serviceyears= 1952–1994
rank= Marshal of the Royal Air Force
branch= air force|United Kingdom
commands=
unit=
battles=
awards=GCB
laterwork=

Sir Peter Robin Harding, GCB, (born 2 December 1933) is a retired Chief of the Air Staff, and Chief of Defence Staff.

RAF career

Educated at Chingford High School he joined the Royal Air Force in 1952. He was Officer Commanding No. 18 Squadron at RAF Gütersloh and RAF Acklington from 1966 to 1969. After serving various other appointments he became station commander at RAF Brugen in 1974.

He became Air Officer Commanding No.11 Group in 1981 [http://www.rafweb.org/Grp02.htm] , Vice Chief of the Air Staff in 1982, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff in 1985 and Air Officer Commanding Strike Command later in 1985. He was Chief of the Air Staff from 1988 to 1992 and Chief of Defence Staff from 1993 to 1994.

Resignation

Harding resigned after it was revealed by Max Clifford and the "News of the World" that he had an affair with Lady (Bienvenida) Buck, the wife of Conservative MP Anthony Buck. [cite journal |last=Morgan |first=Piers |authorlink=Piers Morgan |year=2002 |title=...As Hugh Cudlipp said... |journal=British Journalism Review |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=19–24 |id=ISSN|0956-4748 |url=http://www.bjr.org.uk/data/2002/no2_morgan.htm |accessdate=2007-03-18 |doi=10.1177/095647480201300204] Although Harding was a serving officer rather than a politician, the story was especially embarrassing as it coincided with a string of scandals (known, after John Major's slogan of October 1993, as "Back to Basics") associated with members of the Conservative government at that time.

Harding was promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force in 1992 and since that time there have been no further promotions to the RAF's highest rank. Unlike other MRAFs who only relinquished their appointments, Harding resigned from the RAF in 1994. [cite book |last=Rallings |first=Colin |coauthors=Broughton, David |others=Farrell, David |title=British Elections and Parties Yearbook |origyear=1996 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=0714642436 |pages=179 |chapter=Reference Section ] Consequently, he is no longer listed in the Air Force List. [The Air Force List, 2006. HMSO ISBN 0-11-773038-6]

References

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