Malcolm St. Clair (UK politician)
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The Honourable Malcolm St Clair |
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|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Bristol South East |
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In office 4 May 1961 – 31 July 1963 |
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| Preceded by | Tony Benn |
| Succeeded by | Tony Benn |
| Majority | -13,044 (-39%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Malcolm Archibald James St Clair 16 February 1927 |
| Died | 1 February 2004 (aged 76) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Mary-Jean Rosalie Alice Hargreaves (m. 1952) |
| Children | Hugh Alan Charles (1957), Andrew David Paul (1960), and Vanessa Alice Rosabelle (1971) |
| Alma mater | Eton College |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch | British Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel |
| Unit | Territorial Army, Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Scots Greys, Royal Gloucestershire Hussars |
Malcolm Archibald James St Clair (pronounced "Sinclair"; 16 February 1927 – 1 February 2004) was a British Conservative Party politician and Army Officer.
Born on 16 February 1927, St Clair was the son of Major-General G.P. St Clair CB CBE DSO. He was educated at Eton College.
After leaving school, St Clair joined the Royal Armoured Corps as a trooper and in 1946 was commissioned as an officer into the Royal Scots Greys. He left the Army in 1948.
St Clair served as honorary secretary to Winston Churchill from 1948 to 1950, before returning to run his family's dairy farm at Tetbury in Gloucestershire.
In 1955, he stood unsuccessfully as a Conservative candidate at the London County Council elections, in Islington East. At the 1959 general election he stood as Conservative candidate in Bristol South East, but he lost to the sitting Labour Member of Parliament Tony Benn (then known as Anthony Wedgwood Benn), whose majority was nearly 6,000 votes. However, in November 1960 Benn's father died and Benn inherited his peerage as Viscount Stansgate, with an automatic seat in the House of Lords. This disqualified Benn from sitting in the House of Commons, triggering a by-election on 4 May 1961. Benn, who wished to be allowed to disclaim his peerage, defied his inability to sit in the Commons by standing at the election, and he and St Clair were the only two candidates. St Clair's campaign displayed posters near every polling station warning voters that Benn was disqualified and that any votes for him would have no effect. Benn nevertheless won the election with nearly 70% of the votes and an increased majority of over 13,000. However, an Election Court considered what to do about the result, found that Benn was disqualified from being elected, and awarded the seat to St. Clair as the only duly qualified candidate. (At the time, St Clair was himself Master of Sinclair — heir-presumptive {1957–1968} to his second-cousin Charles St Clair, 17th Lord Sinclair.)
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