Former foreign sec Francis Pym dies

Franes Pym 1922-2008

Friday, 07, Mar 2008 12:00

The former foreign secretary Lord Francis Pym has died.

The Conservative peer and member of Margaret Thatcher's government passed away at the age of 86, after a prolonged illness.

Lord Pym led the Foreign Office from 1982 to 1983 before he was replaced by Sir Geoffrey Howe. He had previously served under Lady Thatcher as her defence secretary and leader of the House.

He was criticised by the then prime minister, however, in 1983 for declaring during the general election campaign that a landslide victory would not produce a good government.

Lord Pym was further alienated from the prevailing conservative climate by advocating centrist, One Nation politics.

Educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge, he entered parliament in 1961 as the MP for Cambridgeshire.

He stood down as an MP at the 1987 election but continued his political career, becoming a life peer in the House of Lords.