Anthony Meyer

Sir Anthony Meyer Bt
Member of Parliament for Clwyd North West West Flintshire (1970–1983)
In office 18 June 1970 – 9 April 1992
Preceded by	Nigel Birch
Succeeded by	Rod Richards
Member of Parliament for Eton and Slough
In office 15 October 1964 – 31 March 1966
Preceded by	Fenner Brockway
Succeeded by	Joan Lestor
Personal details
Born	Anthony John Charles Meyer 27 October 1920 London, UK
Died	24 December 2004 (aged 84) London, UK
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Democrats (After 2001)
Other political affiliations	Conservative Party (Until 1998) Pro-Euro Conservative Party (1998–2001)
Spouse(s)	Barbadee
Relations	Sir Frank Cecil Meyer (father)
Children	4
Alma mater	New College, Oxford

Sir Anthony John Charles Meyer, 3rd Baronet (27 October 1920 – 24 December 2004) was a British soldier, diplomat, and Conservative and later Liberal Democrat politician, best known for standing against Margaret Thatcher for the party leadership in 1989. In spite of his staunch right-wing views on economic policy, his passionate support of increased British integration into the European Union led to him becoming increasingly marginalised in Thatcher's Conservative Party.

After being deselected as a Conservative parliamentary candidate for the 1992 general election, Meyer became policy director of the European Movement, and in 1998 he joined the Pro-Euro Conservative Party. After that disbanded in 2001, he became a member of the Liberal Democrats.

Meyer was the son of Marjorie Amy Georgina (née Seeley) and Sir Frank Cecil Meyer. His father was vice-chairman of the De Beers diamond cartel, and from 1924 to 1929 he was Conservative Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. His father was from a Jewish family. His grandfather, Sir Carl Ferdinand Meyer, was born in Hamburg, Germany; he migrated to Britain in the late 19th century, when he worked for the Rothschilds, and later for De Beers; he eventually became Governor of the National Bank of Egypt and was given a baronetcy for the large donations he made to found a National Theatre in Britain.

Meyer was educated at Eton College, like his father, and he inherited the baronetcy at the age of 15 when his father died in a hunting accident. Like his father, he also attended New College, Oxford, but after one year he joined the Scots Guards in 1941, the same year he married Barbadee Knight, and they would have one son and three daughters. During the battle for Caen, in the break-out from the Normandy invasion beaches he was seriously wounded when the tank he was travelling in was hit, and he spent the next nine months on his back in hospital. During this time he read extensively to make up for his lost years at Oxford, but decided not to return to university. Instead, he joined HM Treasury where he mostly worked on winding up the affairs of the Polish government-in-exile.

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