Hugh Dykes

Hugh John Maxwell Dykes, Baron Dykes, (born 17 May 1939) is a British politician and member of the House of Lords. Initially a Europhile Conservative, he later defected to the Liberal Democrats.


The Lord Dykes
Official Portrait
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
21 June 2004
Life Peerage
Member of Parliament
for Harrow East
In office
18 June 1970  8 April 1997
Preceded byRoy Roebuck
Succeeded byTony McNulty
Personal details
Born (1939-05-17) 17 May 1939
Political partyLiberal Democrats
Conservative (until 1997)
Spouse(s)Susan Margaret Smith

Family and education

Dykes was educated at Weston-super-Mare Grammar School, Somerset, followed by Pembroke College, Cambridge. He married Susan Margaret Smith in 1966 and they had three sons. They divorced in 2000. Dykes has been with Sarah Allder since 2003.

Life and career

After unsuccessfully contesting Tottenham in 1966, Dykes served as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Harrow East from 1970 until he lost his seat at the 1997 general election. He also served as a Member of the European Parliament between 1974 and 1977. While an MP, Dykes served in the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office in Edward Heath's government.

Following the defeat of Kenneth Clarke in the Conservative leadership contest following the 1997 general election, Dykes joined the Liberal Democrats. Within a year of joining the party, he came to serve as an adviser to Paddy Ashdown on European Union affairs.

He has served as chairman of the European Movement-UK and as vice president of the British-German Association. In 1991 he was awarded the German Order of Merit, followed by the Luxembourg Médaille pour l'Europe in 1993.

In 2004, Dykes was raised to the peerage as Baron Dykes, of Harrow Weald in the London Borough of Harrow.[1] The same year he received the French Légion d'Honneur.

gollark: You can't have something be "Thing 1 month" and "Thing 2 month". This is impossible.
gollark: Obviously month utilization must be fairly controlled to ensure sustainable month use.
gollark: There are only something like 12 months a year.
gollark: I mean, there's already an LGBT-oriented month, no?
gollark: What if another cause comes along which wants some sort of related month?

References

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Roy Roebuck
Member of Parliament for Harrow East
19701997
Succeeded by
Tony McNulty
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by
The Lord McKenzie of Luton
Gentlemen
Baron Dykes
Followed by
The Lord Broers
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