The Lord Duncan-Sandys | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sandys in 1975 | |||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for the Colonies | |||||||||||||||
| In office 13 July 1962 – 16 October 1964 | |||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan Sir Alec Douglas-Home | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Reginald Maudling | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Anthony Greenwood | ||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations | |||||||||||||||
| In office 27 July 1960 – 16 October 1964 | |||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan Sir Alec Douglas-Home | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | The Earl of Home | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Arthur Bottomley | ||||||||||||||
| Minister of Aviation | |||||||||||||||
| In office 14 October 1959 – 27 July 1960 | |||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Office Created | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Peter Thorneycroft | ||||||||||||||
| Minister of Defence | |||||||||||||||
| In office 14 January 1957 – 14 October 1959 | |||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Antony Head | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Harold Watkinson | ||||||||||||||
| Minister of Housing and Local Government | |||||||||||||||
| In office 19 October 1954 – 4 January 1957 | |||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill Sir Anthony Eden | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Harold Macmillan | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Henry Brooke | ||||||||||||||
| Minister of Supply | |||||||||||||||
| In office 31 October 1951 – 19 October 1954 | |||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | George Strauss | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Selwyn Lloyd | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forStreatham | |||||||||||||||
| In office 23 February 1950 – 8 February 1974 | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Sir David Robertson | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | William Shelton | ||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forNorwood | |||||||||||||||
| In office 14 March 1935 – 15 June 1945 | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Sir Walter Greaves-Lord | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Ronald Chamberlain | ||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||
| Born | Edwin Duncan Sandys (1908-01-24)24 January 1908 Sandford Orcas,Dorset, England | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 26 November 1987(1987-11-26) (aged 79) London, England | ||||||||||||||
| Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||
| Spouses | |||||||||||||||
| Relations |
| ||||||||||||||
| Children | 4, includingEdwina andLaura | ||||||||||||||
| Parent |
| ||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||||
| Profession | Diplomat | ||||||||||||||
| Military service | |||||||||||||||
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||
| Branch/service |  British Army | ||||||||||||||
| Years of service | 1937–1946 | ||||||||||||||
| Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel | ||||||||||||||
| Unit | Royal Artillery | ||||||||||||||
| Battles/wars | Norwegian Campaign | ||||||||||||||
Duncan Edwin Duncan-Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys[1]CH, PC (/sændz/; 24 January 1908 – 26 November 1987), was a British politician and minister in successiveConservative governments in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a son-in-law ofWinston Churchill and played a key role in promoting European unity afterWorld War II.
Sandys, born on 24 January 1908 at the Manor House,Sandford Orcas, Dorset, was the son ofGeorge John Sandys, aConservative Member of Parliament (1910–1918), and Mildred Helen Cameron.[2] Sandys's parents divorced in January 1921 when he was 12 years old.[3][4] His mother marriedFrederick Hamilton Lister in October that year, becoming Mildred Helen Lister. He was educated atEton College andMagdalen College, Oxford.
Sandys entered thediplomatic service in 1930, serving at theForeign Office in London as well as at the embassy inBerlin.
He became Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) forNorwood insouth London in aby-election in March 1935, at which he was opposed by an Independent Conservative candidate sponsored byRandolph Churchill.
In May 1935, he was in effect saying that Germany should have a predominant place in central Europe, so that Britain could be free to pursue her colonial interests without rival.[5] He was a prewar member of theAnglo-German Fellowship.
In November 1936 Sandys put forward to the "1912 Club" a "fanciful vision" of England in 1950 (includingpeace in Europe) .[6]
In 1937, Sandys was commissioned into the51st (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, Royal Artillery, of theTerritorial Army (TA).[7] In 1938, he asked questions in theHouse of Commons on matters ofnational security that reflected his TA experience. He was subsequently approached by two unidentified men, presumably representing thesecret services, and threatened withprosecution under section 6 of theOfficial Secrets Act 1920. Sandys reported the matter to theCommittee of Privileges which held that the disclosures of Parliament were not subject to the legislation, though an MP could be disciplined by the House.[8][9] TheOfficial Secrets Act 1939 was enacted in reaction to this incident.[10]
During theSecond World War Sandys fought with 51st (London) HAA Regiment in theNorwegian campaign and was wounded in action; this left him with a permanent limp.[9]
His father-in-law gave him his first ministerial post asFinancial Secretary to the War Office from 1941 to 1944 during the wartime coalition government. Sandys had been wartime Parliamentary Secretary to theMinistry of Supply.W. A. Robotham who had been in the Ministry as "Chief Engineer of Tank Design" wrote that he was knowledgeable on army matters. Robotham ofRolls-Royce who had headed development of theMeteor tank engine in WWII was surprised and pleased when in 1963 Sandys said "I regard the adoption of the Meteor tank engine as the absolute turning-point in the history of British tank development", at the opening of a Rolls-Royce aero engine factory at East Kilbride (aero engines being Rolls-Royce's main business).[11]
From 1944 to 1945 he served asMinister of Works for the remainder of the coalition and in theChurchill Caretaker Ministry. While a minister he was chairman of aWar Cabinet Committee fordefence against German flying bombs and rockets, on which he frequently clashed with the scientist and intelligence expertR. V. Jones.[12] However, he lost his seat in the1945 general election. He resigned his TA commission as alieutenant-colonel the following year.[9]
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Sandys played a key role in the creation of theEuropean Movement. He established theUnited Europe Movement in Britain in 1947 following a speech of his father-in-law, Winston Churchill, in Zurich on 19 September 1946 when Churchill had called for the "European family" to be recreated and provided with "a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom".
In 1947,Joseph Retinger, who had been instrumental in setting up theEuropean League for Economic Cooperation in 1946, approached Sandys, then Honorary Secretary of the UEM, to discuss ways the League and the United Europe Movement might cooperate on questions relating to European integration. They decided to call a small conference of existing organisations working for European unity – the European League for Economic Cooperation, the United Europe Movement, theNouvelles Equipes Internationales, theEuropean Parliamentary Union, and theEuropean Union of Federalists. This took place in Paris on 20 July 1947 where ELEC, the UEM, the EPU and the EUF agreed to establish the Committee for the Co-ordination of the International Movements for European Unity. The EPU did not however subsequently ratify its participation in the committee but the Nouvelles Equipes Internationales agreed to join. In December 1947, the committee was renamed the International Committee of the Movements for European Unity and Sandys was elected its chairman and Retinger its Honorary Secretary.
The Committee organised theCongress of Europe, held inThe Hague from 7–11 May 1948 with 750 delegates from across Europe. Following the Congress, the International Committee was transformed into the European Movement.[13][14][15][16]
Sandys served as a member of theConsultative Assembly of the Council of Europe from 1950 until 1951.
Sandys was elected to parliament once again at the1950 general election forStreatham and, when the Conservatives regained power in 1951, he was appointedMinister of Supply. For most of his time in that role, his private secretary was Jack Charles. AsMinister of Housing from 1954, he introduced theClean Air Act and in 1955 introduced thegreen belts.
He was appointedMinister of Defence in 1957 and quickly produced the1957 Defence White Paper that proposed a radical shift in theRoyal Air Force by ending the use of fighter aircraft in favour ofmissile technology. Though later ministers reversed the policy, the lost orders and cuts in research were responsible for several British aircraft manufacturers going out of business. As Minister of Defence he saw the rationalisation (merger) of much of the British military aircraft and engine industry.
Sandys continued as a minister at theCommonwealth Relations Office, later combining it with the Colonies Office, until the Conservative government lost power in 1964. In this role he was responsible for granting several colonies their independence and was involved in managing the British response to several conflicts involving the armed forces of the newly independent countries of East Africa.[17]
He remained in the shadow cabinet until 1966 when he was sacked byEdward Heath. He had strongly supportedIan Smith in the dispute overRhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence. He was not offered a post when the Conservatives won the 1970 general election, but instead served as leader of the United Kingdom delegation to theCouncil of Europe andWestern European Union until 1972 when he announced his retirement. The next year he was made amember of the Order of the Companions of Honour.
In 1974 he retired from parliament and was awarded alife peerage on 2 May. As the title ofBaron Sandys was already held by another family, he followed the example ofGeorge Brown and incorporated his first name in his title, changing his surname toDuncan-Sandys.[18] He was createdBaron Duncan-Sandys,of theCity of Westminster, on 2 May 1974.[1]
He was an active early member of theConservative Monday Club.[citation needed]
In 1935, Sandys marriedDiana Churchill, daughter of the future prime ministerWinston Churchill. They divorced in 1960.
In 1962, he married Marie-Claire (née Schmitt), who had been previously married toRobert Hudson, 2nd Viscount Hudson.[citation needed] The marriage lasted until Sandys's death.
It has long been speculated that he may have been the 'headless man' whose identity was concealed during the scandalous divorce trial ofMargaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, in 1963.[19]
Sandys died on 26 November 1987 at his home in London.[20] He is buried in the churchyard of St Nicholas inChild Okeford, Dorset. His grave is marked by a horizontal white slab.[21]
From Sandys's first marriage, with Diana Churchill:
From his second marriage, with Marie-Claire Schmitt:
Among Sandys's other interests washistoric architecture. He formed theCivic Trust in 1957 and was its president; theRoyal Institution of British Architects made him an honorary Fellow in 1968, and theRoyal Town Planning Institute made him an honorary member. He was also a trustee of the World Security Trust.
Between 1969 and 1984 he was President ofEuropa Nostra and acted for the preservation of the European cultural and architectural heritage.
His business activities included a Directorship of theAshanti Goldfields Corporation, which was later part ofLonrho of which he became chairman. He was therefore caught up in the scandal in which Lonrho was revealed to have bribed several African countries and broken international sanctions againstRhodesia, as well as the "unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism" episode involving eight directors being sacked byTiny Rowland.[22]
LONDON, Jan. 13. Mrs. Mildred Helen Sandys, who is a daughter of the late Mr. Duncan Cameron, of Springfield, Canterbury, New Zealand, has obtained a decree divorce against her husband, Mr. George John Sandys, who was member of the House of Commons for the Wells division of Somerset from 1910 to 1918 on the ground of the respondent's misconduct. Mr. Sandys served with the Guards in the South African and European wars. He was married in 1905, and has one son.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forNorwood 1935–1945 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forStreatham 1950 –Feb 1974 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Defence 1957–1959 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Minister of Aviation 1959–1960 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations 1960–1964 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for the Colonies 1962–1964 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
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