Christopher Soames, Baron Soames

The Right Honourable The Lord Soames GCMG GCVO CH CBE PC
Governor of Southern Rhodesia
In office 11 December 1979 – 18 April 1980
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Humphrey Gibbs
Succeeded by	Canaan Banana (President of Zimbabwe)
Leader of the House of Lords
In office 5 May 1979 – 14 September 1981
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	The Lord Peart
Succeeded by	The Baroness Young
Lord President of the Council
In office 5 May 1979 – 14 September 1981
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Michael Foot
Succeeded by	Francis Pym
European Commissioner for External Relations
In office 6 January 1973 – 5 January 1977
President	François-Xavier Ortoli
Preceded by	Jean-François Deniau
Succeeded by	Wilhelm Haferkamp
European Commissioner for Trade
In office 6 January 1973 – 5 January 1977
President	François-Xavier Ortoli
Preceded by	Ralf Dahrendorf
Succeeded by	Wilhelm Haferkamp
British Ambassador to France
In office September 1968 – 27 October 1972
Preceded by	Patrick Reilly
Succeeded by	Edward Tomkins
Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office 27 July 1960 – 16 October 1964
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan Alec Douglas-Home
Preceded by	John Hare
Succeeded by	Fred Peart
Secretary of State for War
In office 6 January 1958 – 27 July 1960
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	John Hare
Succeeded by	John Profumo
Member of Parliament for Bedford
In office 23 February 1950 – 31 March 1966
Preceded by	Thomas Skeffington-Lodge
Succeeded by	Brian Parkyn
Personal details
Born	12 October 1920(1920-10-12) Penn, United Kingdom
Died	16 September 1987(1987-09-16) (aged 66)
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Mary Churchill

Arthur Christopher John Soames, Baron Soames, GCMG, GCVO, CH, CBE, PC (12 October 1920 – 16 September 1987) was a British politician belonging to the Conservative Party and the son-in-law of Winston Churchill. A European Commissioner and the last Governor of Southern Rhodesia, he had previously been the longtime Member of Parliament for Bedford from 1950 to 1966. He held several government posts and attained Cabinet rank.

Background

Soames was born in Penn, England, the son of Captain Arthur Granville Soames, a descendant of a brewing family which had joined the landed gentry, by his marriage to Hope Mary Woodbine Parish. His parents divorced while he was a boy, and his mother married as her second husband the 8th Baron Dynevor (a descendant of the 1st and last Earl Talbot), by whom she had further children including Richard Rhys, 9th Baron Dynevor.

Political career

After military service in the Second World War, Soames served as the Assistant Military Attaché in Paris. He was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Bedford from 1950 to 1966 and served under Sir Anthony Eden as Under-Secretary of State for Air from 1955 to 1957 and under Harold Macmillan as Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty from 1957 to 1958. In 1955 he was invested as Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

He served in the Cabinet under Macmillan as Secretary of State for War from 1958 to 1960 and under Macmillan and his successor Sir Alec Douglas-Home as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1960 to 1964. In 1958 he was admitted to the Privy Council.

Between 1965 and 1966 Soames was Shadow Foreign Secretary under Edward Heath. In 1968 Harold Wilson appointed him Ambassador to France, where he served until 1972. In 1972 Soames was subsequently made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG), and a Grand Officer of the French Legion d'Honneur.^[1] He was then a Vice-President of the European Commission from 1973 to 1976. He was created a life peer in 1978 as Baron Soames, of Fletching in the County of East Sussex, and served as the interim Governor of Southern Rhodesia from 1979 to 1980 between the Lancaster House Agreement and that country gaining independence as Zimbabwe. From 1979 to 1981 he was Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords under Margaret Thatcher concurrent with his duties in Rhodesia. In 1980 he was invested as a Companion of Honour.

Family

Lord Soames married Mary Churchill, the youngest child of Winston Churchill and Clementine Hozier, on 11 February 1947. They had five children, of whom the best known is his eldest son the Hon. Nicholas Soames, the former Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Defence. Lord Soames died from pancreatitis, aged 66, and is buried within the Churchill plot at St Martin's Church, Bladon, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

References

1. ^ The Papers of Baron Soames – Website Janus

Further reading

• Stevan Pavlowitch, Apologising for the Empire, Oxford University Press, England, 1996

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Christopher Soames
• Time:Festive Birth of a Nation (Zimbabwe)
• Maximilian Genealogy Master Database 2000
• Nicholas Soames – MP for Mid Sussex

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Thomas Skeffington-Lodge	Member of Parliament for Bedford 1950–1966	Succeeded by Brian Parkyn
Political offices
Preceded by George Ward	Undersecretary of State for Air 1955–1957	Succeeded by Ian Orr-Ewing
	Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty 1957–1958	Succeeded by Robert Allan
Preceded by John Hare	Secretary of State for War 1958–1960	Succeeded by John Profumo
Preceded by John Hare	Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 1960–1964	Succeeded by Fred Peart
Preceded by Reginald Maudling	Shadow Foreign Secretary 1965–1966	Succeeded by Alec Douglas-Home
New office	European Commissioner from the United Kingdom 1973–1977 Served alongside: George Thomson	Succeeded by Christopher Tugendhat
		Succeeded by Roy Jenkins
Preceded by Jean-François Deniau	European Commissioner for External Relations 1973–1977	Succeeded by Wilhelm Haferkamp
Preceded by Ralf Dahrendorf	European Commissioner for Trade 1973–1977
Preceded by The Lord Peart	Leader of the House of Lords 1979–1981	Succeeded by The Baroness Young
Preceded by Michael Foot	Lord President of the Council 1979–1981	Succeeded by Francis Pym
Preceded by Humphrey Gibbs	Governor of Southern Rhodesia 1979–1980	Succeeded by Canaan Banana as President of Zimbabwe
Party political offices
Preceded by The Lord Carrington	Leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords 1979–1981	Succeeded by The Baroness Young
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Patrick Reilly	British Ambassador to France 1968–1972	Succeeded by Edward Tomkins

Persondata
Name	Soames, Christopher
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	12 October 1920
Place of birth	Penn, United Kingdom
Date of death	16 September 1987
Place of death