John Fletcher-Cooke

Sir John Fletcher-Cooke (8 August 1911 – 19 May 1989) was a British Conservative Party politician.

A former colonial administrator, he was the Conservative candidate at the Luton by-election in November 1963, following the resignation of the former "radio doctor" and Conservative Minister Charles Hill. Hill had a majority of over 5,000 at the 1959 general election, but the Luton seat was won by the Labour candidate Will Howie with a majority of 3,749. [http://www.geocities.com/by_elections/63.html#luton]

Fletcher-Cooke entered the House of Commons the following year at the 1964 general election, as Member of Parliament for Southampton Test. However, he lost his seat two years later, at the 1966 general election, to Labour's Bob Mitchell, and never re-entered Parliament.

His younger brother Charles Fletcher-Cooke, was Conservative MP for Darwen from 1951 to 1983. The two clashed in the House of Commons over the Labour government's imposition of sanctions against Rhodesia, following the colony's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965 under Ian Smith. John opposed sanctions, but his brother supported them. [http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/index/XWGN05LV790UWK6D.pdf]

References

* [http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873159,00.html The Loss of Luton] (Time Magazine, 1963-11-15)
*Rayment