Keith Monin Stainton was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Conservative

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...

 politician and World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 hero in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Keith Stainton was born in Kendal

Kendal

Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...

, Westmorland

Westmorland

Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...

, the son of a Kendal butcher and a Belgian refugee he had met during the First World War. He left Kendal School at 14 and worked as an insurance clerk from 1936 until military service. In early 1940 he volunteered for the Navy and was commissioned into the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, into submarines and served on the famous French submarine Casabianca. Part French himself, he was awarded the Légion d'honneur

Légion d'honneur

The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...

, the Croix de Guerre avec Palme

Croix de guerre

The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...

 and a citation à l'ordre de L'Armée for his torpedo actions in the Mediterranean.

After the war he read Economics at Manchester University where he was founder chairman of the Conservative Association. From 1949 to 1952 he was a leader writer for the Financial Times

Financial Times

The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

. He was also a founder member of the Bow Group

Bow Group

The Bow Group is one of the oldest think tanks in the United Kingdom. Taking its name from the Bow area of London where it first met, it was founded in 1951...

 and first chairman of Croydon East

Croydon East (UK Parliament constituency)

Croydon East was a borough 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 system of election.- Politics and history :...

 Conservative Association. After working as a management consultant, he joined a major food manufacturing and distribution company and became managing director and chairman. He was a Lloyd's underwriter specialising in maritime and aviation reinsurance.

Stainton was 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 Sudbury and Woodbridge

Sudbury and Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Sudbury and Woodbridge was a county constituency centred on the towns of Sudbury and Woodbridge in Suffolk. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 from a 1963 by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 until the 1983 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1983

The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...

, when the seat was abolished by boundary changes. Edward Heath

Edward Heath

Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....

 made him opposition spokesman on aviation in 1965.

Stainton married twice, and had six children by his first wife Vanessa Ann Heald (marriage dissolved). He married Frances Easton in 1980.

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