Nicholas Soames

Sir Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames (born 12 February 1948), sometimes known as Nick Soames, is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Sussex from 1997 to 2019, having previously served as the MP for Crawley from 1983 to 1997.

The Right Honourable

Sir Nicholas Soames
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
In office
6 November 2003 – 10 May 2005
LeaderMichael Howard
Preceded byBernard Jenkin
Succeeded byMichael Ancram
Minister of State for the Armed Forces
In office
20 July 1994 – 2 May 1997
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byJeremy Hanley
Succeeded byJohn Reid
Parliamentary Secretary to the
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office
14 April 1992 – 20 July 1994
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byDavid MacLean
Succeeded byAngela Browning
Member of Parliament
for Mid Sussex
In office
1 May 1997 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byTim Renton
Succeeded byMims Davies
Member of Parliament
for Crawley
In office
9 June 1983 – 1 May 1997
Preceded byPeter Hordern (Horsham and Crawley)
Succeeded byLaura Moffatt
Personal details
Born
Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames

(1948-02-12) 12 February 1948
Croydon, Surrey, England
Political partyConservative[lower-alpha 1]
Spouse(s)
Catherine Weatherall
​
(
m. 1981⁠–⁠1988)

Serena Smith
​
(
m. 1993)
Children3
ParentsChristopher Soames, Baron Soames
Mary Churchill
RelativesWinston Churchill (grandfather)
Diana Churchill (aunt)
Randolph Churchill (uncle)
Sarah Churchill (aunt)
Rupert Soames (brother)
EducationEton College
Alma materMons Officer Cadet School
WebsiteOfficial website
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1967–1975
RankSecond Lieutenant
Unit11th Hussars
Royal Hussars
  1. Whip suspended from 3 September 2019 to 29 October 2019.

Soames was Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 1994 to 1997 in the government of John Major. He had the whip removed on 3 September 2019, for voting against the government, before it was restored on 29 October. His main political interests are defence, international relations, rural affairs and industry. He is a grandson of former prime minister Winston Churchill.

Early life, education and military service

Soames was born in 1948 in Croydon. He is a grandson of the British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, a son of Lord and Lady Soames, and a great-nephew of the founders of the Scout movement, Robert Baden-Powell and Olave Baden-Powell. His brother is industrialist Rupert Soames.

Simon Hoggart, writing in The Guardian, related an anecdote of Soames' childhood: "He gave me the true version of what I had always suspected was an apocryphal story. In or around 1953, when Soames was five, he didn't know how important his grandfather was until someone told him. So he walked up to the old man's bedroom, managed to get past the valets and the secretaries, and found him sitting up in bed. 'Is it true, grandpapa, that you are the greatest man in the world?' he asked. 'Yes I am,' said Churchill. 'Now bugger off.'"[1]

After attending St. Aubyns Preparatory School in Sussex, Soames received his secondary education at Eton College. Later he studied at Mons Officer Cadet School before being commissioned into the 11th Hussars on 5 August 1967 on a Short Service Commission before serving in West Germany and Britain with the 11th Hussars and later the Royal Hussars.[2] Soames was transferred to Regular Army Reserve of Officers on 9 March 1970 before resigning his commission on 5 August 1975.[3][4]

Early career

In 1970, he was appointed Equerry to HRH The Prince of Wales; he has remained a close friend of the Prince ever since, and publicly criticised Diana, Princess of Wales, during the couple's estrangement. When Diana first accused the Prince of Wales of adultery with Camilla Parker Bowles, Soames told the BBC that the accusation, and Diana's fear of being slandered by her husband's courtiers, stemmed merely from Diana's mental illness, and "the advanced stages of paranoia".[5] Charles later admitted his adultery and Soames apologised.

In 1972, he left Kensington Palace and the army to work as a stockbroker. In 1974, he became a personal assistant; first to Sir James Goldsmith and then in 1976 to United States Senator Mark Hatfield, whose employ he left in 1978 to become a director of Bland Welch, Lloyd's Brokers. Between 1979 and 1981, he was an assistant director of the Sedgwick Group. He fought Central Dunbartonshire in Scotland in 1979, where Labour's Hugh McCartney defeated him by 12,003 votes.

Parliamentary career

Soames was elected as the MP for Crawley at the 1983 general election. He sat for Crawley until the 1997 general election (when Labour defeated the Conservatives in Crawley). In the 1997 election, he retained the constituency of Mid Sussex for the Conservatives after Tim Renton stood down at the election, and Soames remained the seat's MP from then until Parliament was dissolved in November 2019.

He served as a Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food between 1992 and 1994, as Minister of State for the Armed Forces at the Ministry of Defence under Prime Minister John Major between 1994 and 1997, and later as the Shadow Secretary of State for Defence from 2003 to 2005.

In 2002 he was appointed to the parliamentary committee considering the future Hunting Act 2004 that banned hunting with dogs, a policy which he opposed.[6][7]

On 9 May 2005, shortly after Michael Howard announced his intention to resign as leader of the Conservative Party, Soames resigned from the shadow cabinet. He immediately ended speculation that he intended to stand for the post of leader, saying that he merely wanted to be free to think about, and to influence the future of the party. He added that he was interested in joining the executive of the 1922 Committee. He later announced his support for David Cameron.[8]

With Frank Field he is a co-chairman of the Cross-Party Group on Balanced Migration,[9] and has advocated in parliament[10] and in the media that immigration to and emigration from the UK should be brought into balance.[11] In parliament he has also spoken in favour of the introduction of a national identity card scheme[12] and advocated them in the national media.[13]

On 13 July 2011, Soames was sworn of the Privy Council.[14] He was knighted in the 2014 Birthday Honours for political service.[15][16]

Soames with former Czechoslovak RAF members in Prague, Czech Republic, June 2014

Soames was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 EU membership referendum.[17] In an interview before the referendum he described himself as a One Nation Tory on the soft right of the party, and compared Brexiteers to 'a growling Alsatian that must be kicked really hard in the balls'.[18]

In April 2019, Soames condemned the United States for recognizing Israel's 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights. Soames said it was "a matter of the greatest regret that our allies, the United States, are in clear contravention of UN Resolution 497", adding that "annexation of territory is prohibited under international law."[19]

Soames endorsed Rory Stewart during the 2019 Conservative leadership election.[20]

Allegations of sexism

According to the book Women in Parliament published in 2005, Soames has been named as the most prolific source of vulgar and sexist comments in the Houses of Parliament, with several female MPs stating that he has made vulgar comments to them. Soames regarded the claims as 'nonsense'. [21] Barbara Follett said in 2007 that Soames was the worst of the sexist MPs in parliament.[22]

On 31 January 2017, Soames made 'woofing' noises at Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh when she was asking the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, a question in the House of Commons. Ahmed-Sheikh called a point of order to bring the speaker's attention to the noises.[23] John Bercow, the speaker, described the noises as "discourteous and that expression should not be used", and Soames was asked to apologise.[24] He did so, saying he was only offering her a "friendly canine salute" in reply to her "snapped" question.[23]

Removal and restoration of whip
Main article: September 2019 suspension of rebel Conservative MPs

On 3 September 2019, Soames joined 20 other rebel Conservative MPs to vote against the Conservative government of Boris Johnson and pass a motion allowing backbenchers to take control of the House of Commons timetable in order to pass a bill to stop a no-deal exit from the EU without parliamentary approval. Effectively, they helped block Johnson's Brexit plan from proceeding on 31 October.[25] Subsequently, all 21 were advised that they had lost the Conservative whip,[26] expelling them as Conservative MPs, requiring them to sit as independents.[27][28] If Soames had decided to stand for re-election in a future election, the party would have blocked his selection as a Conservative candidate.[29]

Soames announced that he would not be standing in the next general election.[30] On 29 October, Boris Johnson restored the whip for him and 9 other MPs.[31]

Inheritance tax relief

In one edition of The Mark Thomas Comedy Product, Mark Thomas investigated the practice of avoiding inheritance tax by declaring art, furniture, homes and land available for public viewing. After discovering that Soames was claiming tax relief on a "three-tier mahogany buffet with partially reeded slender balustrade upright supports" on this basis, but without making any arrangements for the furniture to be inspected by the public, Thomas invented a 'National Soames Day' on which hundreds of people made appointments to see the furniture.[32][33] In 2015, Thomas told The Independent's Adam Jacques: "I try to find the good in my enemies. It's not unusual to be able to get on with people despite what they are doing being awful. The only person I have met who I considered to be without any redeeming features was [...] Nicholas Soames. [...] He was such a pantomime baddie."[33]

Aegis Defence Services

Soames was chairman[34][35] of the private security contractor Aegis Defence Services which was bought[36] in 2015 by GardaWorld, for whom he now acts as a member of the International Advisory Board. Aegis had a series of contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to provide guards to protect US military bases in Iraq from 2004 onwards. From 2011, the company broadened its recruitment to take in African countries, having previously employed people from the UK, the US and Nepal.

Contract documents say that the soldiers from Sierra Leone were paid $16 (£11) a day. A documentary, The Child Soldier’s New Job, broadcast in Denmark, alleges that the estimated 2,500 Sierra Leonean personnel who were recruited by Aegis and other private security companies to work in Iraq included former child soldiers.[37]

Other outside interests

He is a director of the liquidated company Framlington Second Dual Trust plc.[38]

Political funding

Mid Sussex Conservative Constituency Association has received over £1 million in donations, with Soames receiving well over £100,000 from private military company Aegis Defence Services Ltd from 2010 onwards.[39] US multinational professional services, risk management and insurance brokerage firm Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc has given Soames £518,069 since 2010 in remunerations for his services as an MP.[40] Soames has also received private donations from a variety of people, including £5,749 from Majlis As Shura, £10,000 from David Rowland, and £20,000 from Ann R. Said.[41]

Meeting with Robert Mugabe

In October 2017, Soames was criticised by Labour MP Kate Hoey following a meeting with Robert Mugabe while visiting Zimbabwe.[42] Zimbabwean media reported that the visit was "part of a private initiative of friends of Zimbabwe in the British establishment" to normalise relations between the two countries.[43] Hoey, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Zimbabwe, said that Soames' visit "pander[ed] to the vanity of a wily and ruthless dictator. [...] You can't have a private visit which is then front page of the newspapers in Zimbabwe."[42] In response, Soames maintained that he had met Mugabe in a personal capacity, rather than as a representative of the UK government: he said that his father, Christopher Soames, who had overseen Zimbabwe's transition to independence, would not have forgiven him if he had not tried to meet the president.[42]

Personal life

Soames has been married twice. His first marriage (4 June 1981 – 1988) was to Catherine Weatherall[44] (the sister of Isobel Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne). They have one son:

  • Arthur Harry David Soames (b. May 1985)[45]

He married, secondly, Serena Smith (a niece of the Duchess of Grafton and daughter of Sir John Smith) on 21 December 1993. They have two children.

  • Isabella Soames (b. 28 November 1996)
  • Christopher Soames (b. 11 January 2001)

His brother, Rupert Soames, is the CEO of outsourcing company Serco.

Driving offences

On 15 May 2008, Soames pleaded guilty to riding a quad bike on a public road without motor insurance. Since he had several previous offences on his licence, he was disqualified from driving for two months, fined £200, and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and costs of £35 by magistrates.[46]

In 2012, he was disqualified from driving for two weeks for speeding at 51 mph in a 30 mph residential area. Soames was also fined £666, plus £85 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge.[47] According to The Argus, a Sussex paper, it was "the third time he has been caught flouting traffic laws in four years".[48]

Ancestry
gollark: No, it uses MD5 for hashing things.
gollark: The keys are MD5 hashes of the "API key" in use.
gollark: Do any of those attacks actually apply to this?
gollark: It's just, well, inelegant, and pollutes globals horribly.
gollark: I don't think it'll *break* anything to use `eval` like that?

References
  1. Hoggart, Simon (4 June 2001). "Hats off to Soames, Off Message but on Majestic Form". The Guardian.
  2. "No. 44430". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 October 1967. p. 11267.
  3. "No. 45055". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 March 1970. p. 2846.
  4. "No. 46651". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 August 1975. p. 9952.
  5. Christopher Wilson (2003). The Windsor knot. ISBN 9780806523866. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  6. "Hunt Bill fight for MP". The Argus. 20 December 2002. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  7. "Hunting Bill Speeches – Nicholas Soames". Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  8. Brogan, Benedict (29 August 2005). "Top Tories back Clarke as party's leader-in-waiting". Daily Mail.
  9. "Balanced Migration: About Us". balancedmigration.org. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  10. "Immigration Speeches – Nicholas Soames". theyworkforyou.com. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  11. "'This open-door immigration policy can't go on' – Sir Nicholas Soames and Frank Field in The Telegraph". balancedmigration.org. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  12. "Identity Card Speeches – Nicholas Soames". Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  13. "ID cards are a good idea – and now is the time to talk about them". The Telegraph. London. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  14. "Privy Council Office — Orders for 13 July 2011" (PDF). Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  15. "No. 60895". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2014. p. b2.
  16. "Three veteran MPs honoured by Queen". 13 June 2014 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  17. Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. London. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  18. "Interview: Nicholas Soames compares Brexiteers to an Alsatian that must be kicked "really hard in the balls"". conservativehome.com. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  19. "Jeremy Hunt condemns Trump's recognition of Golan Heights as Israeli". Jewish News Reporter. 2 April 2019.
  20. Soames, Nicholas (10 June 2019). "Nicholas Soames MP: Only Rory Stewart can sort Brexit, unite our Party and restore Britain to a position of respect in the world". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  21. Tweedie, Neil. "Female MPs round on 'sexist' Soames". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  22. Cooke, Rachel (23 April 2007). "Oh babe, just look at us now". The Observer. London. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  23. "Tory MP Soames sorry for 'woofing' at Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh". BBC News. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  24. Gill, Martha (31 January 2017). "Nicholas Soames Says He Made 'Woof Woof' Noises At Female MP As 'Friendly Canine Salute'". Huffington Post UK. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  25. Mikhailova, Anna (4 September 2019). "Boris Johnson to strip 21 Tory MPs of the Tory whip in parliamentary bloodbath". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 September 2019 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  26. "What is removing the whip, filibustering and other Brexit jargon?". BBC Newsbeat. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  27. "Whips". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  28. "Boris Johnson to seek election after rebel Tories deliver Commons defeat". Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  29. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/09/04/parliament-whip-removed/, Boris Johnson to strip 21 Tory MPs of the Tory whip in parliamentary bloodbath
  30. "Churchill's grandson to have whip removed". BBC News.
  31. "PM readmits 10 Brexit rebels to Tory party". BBC News. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  32. Cornock, David (31 October 2006). "Wales@Westminster newslog". BBC News. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  33. Jacques, Adam (31 October 2015). "Mark Thomas interview: The social-activist comedian talks opera, charity shops, and Nicholas Soames". The Independent. London. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  34. "Management". Aegisworld.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  35. "www.aegisworld.com". www.aegisworld.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  36. "GardaWorld announces Aegis Group purchase". Canadian Security. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  37. Ross, Alice (17 April 2016). "UK firm 'employed former child soldiers' as mercenaries in Iraq". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  38. "FRAMLINGTON SECOND DUAL TRUST PLC – OFFICERS". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  39. "searchthemoney.com". Searchthemoney.com. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  40. "searchthemoney.com". Searchthemoney.com. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  41. Donations to Soames, Searchthemoney.com; accessed 16 June 2014.
  42. "Sir Nicholas Soames: Robert Mugabe meeting was 'purely personal'". BBC News. 9 October 2017.
  43. Share, Felex (6 October 2017). "President reflects on Soames visit". The Herald (Zimbabwe). Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  44. Rhodes, Michael (5 November 2013). "Peerage News: Capt Anthony Edward Weatherall 1924–2013".
  45. "Harry David SOAMES – Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk.
  46. Macintyre, James (15 May 2008). "Illegal ride on a quad bike lands Soames with a driving ban". The Independent. London. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  47. ""It won't affect me": Tory grandee's boast after he's banned after third speeding offence in four years". Daily Mirror. London. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  48. "'Anti-speed' Sussex MP tells of shame at totting ban". The Argus. Brighton. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament
for Crawley
1983–1997		 Succeeded by
Laura Moffatt
Preceded by
Tim Renton		 Member of Parliament
for Mid Sussex
1997–2019		 Succeeded by
Mims Davies
Political offices
Preceded by
Jeremy Hanley		 Minister of State for the Armed Forces
1994–1997		 Succeeded by
John Reid
Preceded by
Bernard Jenkin		 Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
2003–2005		 Succeeded by
Michael Ancram
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