The Right Honourable The Lord Soames GCMG GCVO CH CBE PC |
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Governor of Southern Rhodesia | |
In office 11 December 1979 – 18 April 1980 |
|
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Preceded by |
Sir Humphrey Gibbs Josiah Zion Gumede (President of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia) |
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 |
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Preceded by | Patrick Reilly |
Succeeded by | Edward Tomkins |
Shadow Foreign Secretary | |
In office 11 November 1965 – 13 April 1966 |
|
Prime Minister | Ted Heath |
Preceded by | Reginald Maudling |
Succeeded by | Alec Douglas-Home |
Minister of 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 |
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In office 23 February 1950 – 31 March 1966 |
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Preceded by | Tom Skeffington-Lodge |
Succeeded by | Brian Parkyn |
Personal details | |
Born |
Arthur Christopher John Soames 12 October 1920 Penn, England, UK |
Died | 16 September 1987 Odiham, England, UK |
(aged 66)
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) | Mary Churchill |
Alma mater | Royal Military College, Sandhurst |
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 Member of Parliament (MP) for Bedford from 1950 to 1966. He held several government posts and attained Cabinet rank.
Soames was born in Penn, Buckinghamshire, England, the son of Captain Arthur Granville Soames (the brother of Olave Baden-Powell, World Chief Guide, both descendants 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.