Anthony Meyer
Encyclopedia
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.
was born in Hamburg, Germany into a Jewish family. 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 hereditary baronet
cy for the large donations he made to found a National Theatre in Britain. Meyer's father, Sir Frank Cecil Meyer
, was vice-chairman of the De Beers
diamond
cartel
, and from 1924 to 1929 he was Conservative Member of Parliament
for Great Yarmouth
, Norfolk
.
, 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 breakout 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's Treasury where he mostly worked on winding up the affairs of the Polish government-in-exile.
government's ban on foreign contacts with its citizens, he said he did not have a job to do. He was rescued by a Soviet attempt to compromise him – he reported an attempt to lure him into a cab by a woman agent to the ambassador, who put Meyer and his family on the next plane home. Between 1958 and 1962, he worked at the Foreign Office
on European political problems, at a time when the Office was changing its policy from being against the "Common Market" to in favour of Britain's joining it.
peer Gladwyn Jebb, 1st Baron Gladwyn
. He later said that he was initially undecided whether to stand for the Conservatives or the Liberals, but his admiration for the Conservative prime minister Harold Macmillan
swung his choice.
In 1963, he was selected to fight the constituency of Eton and Slough
, then held by Labour's leftwing internationalist Fenner Brockway. In the 1964 General Election
, Meyer won the Eton and Slough seat by 11 votes, gaining respect by ignoring his constituency party's advice to campaign on the race issue, which could have swung a number of votes in that constituency at the time. His was one of only four Conservative gains in that election. Recognising that he would only be in the seat temporarily, Meyer made the most of his time in Parliament, advocating Britain's joining the Common Market and strengthening the United Nations
. He also established himself on the liberal wing of the party: voting to abolish capital punishment
and for sanctions against Rhodesia
. In the 1966 General Election
he lost his seat to Labour's Joan Lestor
by 4,663 votes.
His liberalism made him almost untouchable in the Conservative party, and his applications to stand in six constituencies (including Windsor
, where he lived) were rejected, but eventually fellow Old Etonian Nigel Birch
recommended Meyer to replace him in the constituency of West Flintshire, in north-eastern Wales. He returned to Parliament at the 1970 General Election
.
steelworks, supporting the Airbus
A300
B whose wings some of his constituents built, against its all-British rival the BAC 3-11, while insisting on the importance of an effective pan-European technology. After Labour's return to power in 1974, he opposed continued sanctions against the white minority government in Rhodesia
, claiming that it was intended to transfer power "forcibly to a violent minority".
When the Conservative party returned to power under Margaret Thatcher
in 1979, Meyer's type of pro-Europeanism was at odds with the Euroscepticism
of the bulk of the party. When his Flintshire West constituency's boundaries were expanded and redrawn to form the Clwyd North West
constituency in 1983, there was an attempt by local party activists to replace him with the more Thatcherite MEP
, Beata Brookes
, whom Meyer managed to defeat.
In November 1989, at a time of both Thatcher's and the Conservative Party's waning popularity and shortly after Nigel Lawson
's resignation, Meyer put himself forward as the pro-European stalking horse
for the leadership of the Conservative Party, fully expecting that one of the more prominent pro-Europeans such as Sir Ian Gilmour or Michael Heseltine
would take over the role; in the event, none of them did so, and Meyer had no illusions that he had any chance of success. In the leadership election
Meyer was defeated by 314 votes to 33, but when spoilt votes and abstentions were added it was discovered that 60 MPs – a full sixth of the parliamentary party – had failed to support Thatcher. As Meyer said, "people started to think the unthinkable", and Thatcher was ousted the following year.
On 19 January 1990, Meyer was deselected as a candidate for the 1992 general election
by the Clwyd North West constituency party for his "treachery", by a 2-1 majority. The deselection campaign was enlivened by a tabloid newspapers' revelation that Meyer had for 26 years had an affair with black former model and blues singer, Simone Washington, who had kept a diary of their sex games. He and his wife Barbadee, could laugh about the affair, which she condoned – when the tabloid press telephoned, Meyer would call out "Darling, it's someone from the Daily Sleaze asking about Simone".
, and in 1998 he defected to the Pro-Euro Conservative Party
before becoming a member of the Liberal Democrats. After 1999 he became a lecturer on European affairs until his death.
, London, in December 2004.
His son, Anthony Ashley Frank Meyer, (born 1944), succeeded him in the baronetcy.
production of Ian Curteis
' controversial The Falklands Play
.
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and later Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, best known for standing against Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
for the party leadership in 1989
Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 1989
The 1989 Conservative Party leadership election took place on 5 December 1989. The incumbent Margaret Thatcher was opposed by the little known 69-year-old backbencher MP Sir Anthony Meyer, Bt.-Background:...
. In spite of his staunch right-wing views on economic policy, his passionate support of increased British integration into the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
led to him becoming increasingly marginalised in Thatcher's Conservative Party.
Early life
Meyer's grandfather, Sir Carl Ferdinand MeyerCarl Meyer
Sir Carl Ferdinand Meyer, 1st Baronet was a British banker and mining magnate.-Personal life:Meyer was born in Hamburg, Germany, the second son of Siegmund Meyer and Elise Rosa Hahn daughter of Reuben Hahn. He became a naturalised British subject in 1877...
was born in Hamburg, Germany into a Jewish family. He migrated to Britain in the late 19th century, when he worked for the Rothschilds
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
, and later for De Beers
De Beers
De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
; he eventually became Governor of the National Bank of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and was given a hereditary baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
cy for the large donations he made to found a National Theatre in Britain. Meyer's father, Sir Frank Cecil Meyer
Frank Cecil Meyer
Sir Frank Cecil Meyer, 2nd Baronet was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician.-Personal life:...
, was vice-chairman of the De Beers
De Beers
De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
cartel
Cartel
A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...
, and from 1924 to 1929 he was Conservative Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
.
Education and war service
Anthony Meyer was educated at Eton CollegeEton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, 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
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, but after one year he joined the Scots Guards
Scots Guards
The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...
in 1941, the same year he married Barbadee Knight, and they would have one son and three daughters. During the battle for Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
, in the breakout from the Normandy invasion beaches
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
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's Treasury where he mostly worked on winding up the affairs of the Polish government-in-exile.
Diplomatic career
In 1946 he passed the Foreign Service examinations, and from 1951 to 1956 he was appointed to the British Embassy in Paris, where he became First Secretary in 1953. The subsequent appointment to the embassy in Moscow was not so enjoyable – he did not speak the language, and confined to the "diplomatic ghetto" through the SovietSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
government's ban on foreign contacts with its citizens, he said he did not have a job to do. He was rescued by a Soviet attempt to compromise him – he reported an attempt to lure him into a cab by a woman agent to the ambassador, who put Meyer and his family on the next plane home. Between 1958 and 1962, he worked at the Foreign Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
on European political problems, at a time when the Office was changing its policy from being against the "Common Market" to in favour of Britain's joining it.
Finding a party, and a seat
The death of his mother in 1962 provided Meyer with the family's wealth, and he decided to enter politics to support his pro-European views. In 1962, he resigned from the Foreign Office to work unpaid for the Common Market Campaign led by LiberalLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
peer Gladwyn Jebb, 1st Baron Gladwyn
Gladwyn Jebb, 1st Baron Gladwyn
Hubert Miles Gladwyn Jebb, 1st Baron Gladwyn, GCMG, GCVO, CB, known as Gladwyn Jebb , was a prominent British civil servant, diplomat and politician as well as the Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations....
. He later said that he was initially undecided whether to stand for the Conservatives or the Liberals, but his admiration for the Conservative prime minister Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
swung his choice.
In 1963, he was selected to fight the constituency of Eton and Slough
Eton and Slough (UK Parliament constituency)
Eton and Slough was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....
, then held by Labour's leftwing internationalist Fenner Brockway. In the 1964 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1964
The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...
, Meyer won the Eton and Slough seat by 11 votes, gaining respect by ignoring his constituency party's advice to campaign on the race issue, which could have swung a number of votes in that constituency at the time. His was one of only four Conservative gains in that election. Recognising that he would only be in the seat temporarily, Meyer made the most of his time in Parliament, advocating Britain's joining the Common Market and strengthening the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. He also established himself on the liberal wing of the party: voting to abolish capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
and for sanctions against Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
. In the 1966 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1966
The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs...
he lost his seat to Labour's Joan Lestor
Joan Lestor
Joan Lestor, Baroness Lestor of Eccles was a British Labour politician.Lestor was educated at Blaenavon Secondary School, Monmouth; William Morris High School, Walthamstow and the University of London. She became a nursery school teacher and a member of the Socialist Party of Great Britain, but...
by 4,663 votes.
His liberalism made him almost untouchable in the Conservative party, and his applications to stand in six constituencies (including Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
, where he lived) were rejected, but eventually fellow Old Etonian Nigel Birch
Nigel Birch, Baron Rhyl
Evelyn Nigel Chetwode Birch, Baron Rhyl, PC, OBE was a British Conservative politician.The son of General Sir Noel Birch and his wife Florence Chetwode, Nigel Birch was educated at Eton. He was a partner in Cohen Laming Hoare until May 1939 when he retired to study politics...
recommended Meyer to replace him in the constituency of West Flintshire, in north-eastern Wales. He returned to Parliament at the 1970 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
.
MP for West Flintshire
He became a popular MP in his new constituency, gaining a reputation for putting the interests of his constituency ahead of Conservative government policy, e.g. by voting against the closure of the ShottonShotton
-Places:England* Shotton, Northumberland, a village in the County of Northumberland* Shotton, Peterlee, a village in County Durham* Shotton, Sedgefield, a village in County Durham* Shotton Colliery, a village in County DurhamWales...
steelworks, supporting the Airbus
Airbus
Airbus SAS is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Blagnac, France, surburb of Toulouse, and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners....
A300
Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS...
B whose wings some of his constituents built, against its all-British rival the BAC 3-11, while insisting on the importance of an effective pan-European technology. After Labour's return to power in 1974, he opposed continued sanctions against the white minority government in Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
, claiming that it was intended to transfer power "forcibly to a violent minority".
When the Conservative party returned to power under Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
in 1979, Meyer's type of pro-Europeanism was at odds with the Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
of the bulk of the party. When his Flintshire West constituency's boundaries were expanded and redrawn to form the Clwyd North West
Clwyd North West (UK Parliament constituency)
Clwyd North West was a parliamentary constituency in Clwyd, North Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system.-History:...
constituency in 1983, there was an attempt by local party activists to replace him with the more Thatcherite MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
, Beata Brookes
Beata Brookes
Beata Ann Brookes, CBE is a retired British social worker, company secretary and Conservative Party politician. She served ten years as Member of the European Parliament for North Wales, and made several attempts to obtain election to the House of Commons. She has sometimes been nicknamed the...
, whom Meyer managed to defeat.
In November 1989, at a time of both Thatcher's and the Conservative Party's waning popularity and shortly after Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...
's resignation, Meyer put himself forward as the pro-European stalking horse
Stalking horse
A stalking horse is a person who tests a concept with someone or mounts a challenge against them on behalf of an anonymous third party. If the idea proves viable and/or popular, the anonymous figure can then declare their interest and advance the concept with little risk of failure...
for the leadership of the Conservative Party, fully expecting that one of the more prominent pro-Europeans such as Sir Ian Gilmour or Michael Heseltine
Michael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
would take over the role; in the event, none of them did so, and Meyer had no illusions that he had any chance of success. In the leadership election
Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 1989
The 1989 Conservative Party leadership election took place on 5 December 1989. The incumbent Margaret Thatcher was opposed by the little known 69-year-old backbencher MP Sir Anthony Meyer, Bt.-Background:...
Meyer was defeated by 314 votes to 33, but when spoilt votes and abstentions were added it was discovered that 60 MPs – a full sixth of the parliamentary party – had failed to support Thatcher. As Meyer said, "people started to think the unthinkable", and Thatcher was ousted the following year.
On 19 January 1990, Meyer was deselected as a candidate for the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
by the Clwyd North West constituency party for his "treachery", by a 2-1 majority. The deselection campaign was enlivened by a tabloid newspapers' revelation that Meyer had for 26 years had an affair with black former model and blues singer, Simone Washington, who had kept a diary of their sex games. He and his wife Barbadee, could laugh about the affair, which she condoned – when the tabloid press telephoned, Meyer would call out "Darling, it's someone from the Daily Sleaze asking about Simone".
Post-parliamentary career
After his forced career change in 1992 Meyer became policy director for the European MovementEuropean Movement
The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.-History:...
, and in 1998 he defected to the Pro-Euro Conservative Party
Pro-Euro Conservative Party
The Pro-Euro Conservative Party was a British political party announced by John Stevens and Brendan Donnelly in February 1999, formed to contest the 1999 European Parliament Elections. The founders were Members of the European Parliament who had resigned from the UK Conservative Party in protest at...
before becoming a member of the Liberal Democrats. After 1999 he became a lecturer on European affairs until his death.
Death
He died of cancer, aged 84, in Kensington and ChelseaRoyal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is a central London borough of Royal borough status. After the City of Westminster, it is the wealthiest borough in England....
, London, in December 2004.
His son, Anthony Ashley Frank Meyer, (born 1944), succeeded him in the baronetcy.
In popular culture
Meyer was portrayed by Geoffrey Wilkinson in the 2002 BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
production of Ian Curteis
Ian Curteis
Ian Bayley Curteis is a British television dramatist and former television director.In a career as a television dramatist from the late 1960s onwards, Curteis wrote for many of the series of the day, including The Onedin Line and Crown Court. In 1979, two television plays by Curteis were...
' controversial The Falklands Play
The Falklands Play
The Falklands Play is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had increasingly come to specialise in dramatic reconstructions of...
.
External links
- Obituary - Sir Anthony Meyer The Guardian, 8 January 2005
- Obituary - Sir Anthony Meyer Times Online, 8 January 2005
- Obituary - Sir Anthony Meyer Daily Telegraph, 10 January 2005