Spencer Le Marchant: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox MPofficeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Sir Spencer Le Marchant

| honorific-suffix =

| image =

| office = [[Comptroller of the Household]]

| primeminister = [[Margaret Thatcher]]

| term_start = 7 May 1979

| term_end = 30 September 1981

| predecessor = [[James Hamilton (Scottish politician)|James Hamilton]]

| successor = [[Anthony Berry]]

'''Sir Spencer Le Marchant''' (15 January 1931 – 7 September 1986) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician.

Le Marchant unsuccessfully contested the[[Vauxhall (UK Parliament constituency)|Vauxhall]], a London [[safe seat]] occupiedheld by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]'s [[George Strauss]] since its 1950formation creation,in [[Vauxhall (UK Parliament constituency)|Vauxhall]]1950, at the [[1966 United Kingdom general election, 1966|1966 general election]]. He was elected to the [[British House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for the marginal Derbyshire constituency of [[High Peak (UK Parliament constituency)|High Peak]] at the [[1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970|1970 general election]], and held the seat until he retired from [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] at the [[1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983|1983 general election]]. He was appointed [[Comptroller of the Household]] when [[Margaret Thatcher]] came to power in 1979.

Le Marchant received note in Thatcher's memoirs as "famous for his intake of [[Champagne (wine)|champagne]]", 6 foot and 6 inches tall, and "could be heard booming out the result" when the then [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government lost a [[motion of no confidence]] by one vote, causing the [[1979 United Kingdom general election, 1979|1979 general election]].

Le Marchant retired from the House of Commons at the [[1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983|1983 general election]], and died at the age of 55 in 1986 on the [[Isle of Wight]].

In 1955 he married Lucinda Gaye [[Duke of Sutherland|Leveson-Gower]], daughter of Brigadier General Hugh Nugent Leveson-Gower, RA and his first wife, Avril Joy Mullens (later fourth wife of [[Ernest Aldrich Simpson]], himself the second husband of [[Wallis Simpson|Wallis, Duchess of Windsor]], whose love affair with [[Edward VIII|King Edward VIII]] led to the [[Edward VIII abdication crisis|1936 abdication crisis]]).

In 2006, [[Michael Brown (British politician)|Michael Brown]], a former Conservative MP from 1979 to 1997, stated that Le Marchant had tried unsuccessfully to seduce him.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3622729/They-take-risks-and-how-which-is-why-we-need-our-gay-MPs-and-their-scandals.html |title=They take risks -– and how! -– which is why we need our gay MPs and their scandals |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=29 January 2006 |first=Michael |last=Brown |accessdate=23 October 2013}}</ref> According to former-MP-turned-journalist [[Matthew Parris]], Le Marchant was a "repressed homosexual".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/if-whips-have-gone-rogue-the-pm-is-to-blame-wcm2w2dlx |title=If whips have gone rogue the PM is to blame |first=Matthew |last=Parris |date=21 January 2022 |authorlink=Matthew Parris |newspaper=The Times |access-date=20 May 2024}}</ref>

{{reflistReflist}}

| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[High Peak (UK Parliament constituency)|High Peak]]

| years = [[1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970|1970]]–[[1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983|1983]]

| after = [[Christopher Hawkins (MP for High Peak MP)|Christopher Hawkins]]

[[Category:PoliticiansUK awardedMPs knighthoods1970–1974]]

[[Category:UK MPs 1974–791974–1979]]

[[Category:UK MPs 1979–831979–1983]]

[[Category:LGBTEnglish LGBTQ politicians from England]]

[[Category:LGBTLGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom]]