Role British Politician | Name Tristan Garel-Jones | |
Education | ||
William Armand Thomas Tristan Garel-Jones, Baron Garel-Jones, PC (born 28 February 1941) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Watford from 1979–97, before being made a life peer in 1997.
Contents
- Lord tristan garel jones 1ra parte
- Early life
- Parliamentary career
- Whips Office
- Europe
- Other interests
- In popular culture
- References
Following his election to Parliament, Garel-Jones served in various whip positions and also as a junior minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Lord tristan garel jones 1ra parte
Early life
Garel-Jones was educated at the King's School, Canterbury.
Parliamentary career
Garel-Jones first contested Caernarvon in February 1974, but was defeated by the future leader of Plaid Cymru Dafydd Wigley. He was elected for Watford at the 1979 General Election.
Whips Office
Viewed as an effective whip who successfully delivered parliamentary votes in favour of Thatcher's legislation, Garel-Jones was nonetheless seen as a mixture of Machiavelli and Ivan the Terrible by the Thatcherite right-wing.
Mr Garel-Jones is said to be the inspiration for the fictional Whip turned PM, Francis Urquhart in House of Cards.
Europe
Garel-Jones was a leading pro-European and remained so despite the Conservative party moving to a more eurosceptic position by the end of the Thatcher era. This created suspicion among right-wing Thatcherites who thought of him as one of the "wets". However, he voted for Margaret Thatcher in the first round of the leadership challenge by Michael Heseltine, but reserved the right to vote against her if it went to a second round. He subsequently voted for Douglas Hurd.
After he stepped down from the House of Commons in 1997, he was given a life peerage as Baron Garel-Jones, of Watford in the County of Hertfordshire.
Other interests
Garel-Jones is a supporter of the British Humanist Association, and a vice chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group.
In popular culture
Garel-Jones was portrayed by Hugh Fraser in the 2004 BBC production of The Alan Clark Diaries, and by Guy Henry in 2009's Margaret.