Edward du Cann

Sir Edward Dillon Lott du Cann, KBE (born 28 May 1924) is a retired politician from the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1956 to 1987 and served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1967 and as chairman of the party's 1922 Committee from 1972 to 1984.

Du Cann was educated at Colet Court, Woodbridge School and St. John's College, Oxford, where he was a friend of Kingsley Amis. At the start of World War II, he was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Navy. Serving as a Lieutenant in motor torpedo boats based in East Anglia patrolling the North Sea, he served alongside both Owen Aisher (later a noted yachtsman and entrepreneur) and David Wickins (the founder of British Car Auctions and an entrepreneur). At the end of hostilities, he became a company director.

In 1951 du Cann contested Walthamstow West and, in 1955, Barrow-in-Furness, both times without success. He was elected as MP for Taunton in a 1956 by-election. Du Cann served as the Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 1962 and as a Minister of State at the Board of Trade 1963–64. He was then the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1965-67, and chairman of the 1922 Committee from 1972-84. He was appointed a Member of the Privy Council in 1964.