John Devereux Ward

Sir John Devereux Ward (8 March 1925 – 26 June 2010) was a British Conservative Party politician.

Trained as a civil and a structural engineer, he rose to become managing director of the construction firm Taylor Woodrow.

After being beaten at Portsmouth North in October 1974, Ward served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Poole from 1979 until his retirement in 1997. He was succeeded by Robert Syms.

From 1994 until the 1997 General Election, Ward was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, John Major. Following Major's resignation as Prime Minister in May 1997, Ward was knighted in the 1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours.

Ward died suddenly on 26 June 2010 at the age of 85.