Conservative Member of Parliament for Bexleyheath
Which position did Cyril Townsend hold in Aug 1974?
Cyril Townsend Sir Cyril David Townsend ( 21 December 1937 − 20 November 2013 ) was a British politician . Townsend was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for Bexleyheath at the February 1974 election , and held the seat until retiring at the 1997 election . Early life . Townsend was born in Woking to Lois Henderson and Lieutenant Colonel Cyril Townsend . He was educated at Bradfield College and Sandhurst . Military career . He was commissioned in 1958 into the Durham Light Infantry . He served during the end of the Cyprus Emergency . He was promoted to captain in December 1963 . In 1966 he fought in Malaysia in the confrontation with Indonesia . He was the Hong Kong Governors aide-de-camp from 1964 to 1966 , and in March 1968 , after two years serving as adjutant to the first battalion of the Durham Light Infantry , retired from the army at the rank of captain . Politics . After joining the Conservative Party , Townsend was recruited as a personal assistant by Edward Heath , the party leader , in 1968 . When the party returned to government in 1970 he became political secretary to the leader of the Greater London Council , Sir Desmond Plummer . In 1972 he was selected as the new Conservative candidate for Bexleyheath , whose predecessor constituency , Bexley , Edward Heath had left in favour of neighbouring Sidcup due to boundary changes . In February 1974 Townsend was elected with a majority of 3686 votes , despite his party being defeated overall and the seat being considered marginal . Member of Parliament . Townsend was made a member of the Select Committee on Violence in the Family , and , concerned about child sex abuse , was the sponsor of the Protection of Children Act 1978 , which he introduced as a private members bill in 1977 . A liberal Conservative , he never obtained ministerial office under Margaret Thatcher , whom he frequently opposed . In 1979 , after six months as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Reg Prentice , he resigned over immigration restrictions on Asian fiancés . He criticised Geoffrey Howes 1981 budget and in November 1982 was the only Conservative MP to oppose benefit cuts . A strong supporter of local government , he opposed the Local Government Act 1985 , including the abolition of the Greater London Council . In 1988 and 1989 he opposed the governments move not to increase child benefit . As a former officer he advocated a robust defence policy , supporting the Trident nuclear programme and opposing defence cuts under John Major . He also supported the boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980 in response to the Soviet–Afghan War , and was elected eight times as vice-chair of the Tory backbenchers defence committee . However , he opposed Thatchers Fortress Falklands policy and sought reconciliation and negotiation with Argentina . In 1983 this led to his removal from the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs . In 1988 he was in charge of a Parliamentary Designation to Iran . Townsend was pro-European , advocating Britains membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism . He criticised Thatcher for her Euroscepticism , which led to him supporting Michael Heseltine in the 1990 Tory leadership election . As a result , in January 1991 the executive of his constituency association proposed to make him stand for reselection , with Townsends critics saying that he was a maverick who failed to consult his local party on key issues . The motion fell when put to the full association the next month . After retaining his seat at the 1992 general election with a majority of 14,086 , he served on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee . After the 1997 boundary changes he was not selected as a candidate for Bexleyheath and Crayford and left Parliament having been knighted in the 1997 New Year Honours . Outside Parliament . Townsend was part of the Council for Arab-British Understanding . He served as joint chair during the 1980s , and became joint president in 1996 . After retiring from Parliament he took this role full-time until stepping down in 2002 . He served as an observer for the European Union at the 1996 Palestinian elections . In 2005 he became disillusioned with the Conservatives . In 2006 , having joined the Liberal Democrats due to support for European integration , he supported Menzies Campbells bid for the party leadership . Journalism . Townsend was a respected journalist who wrote for several Middle Eastern newspapers ( including Al-Hayat , for which he wrote a regular column ) , and was also a regular contributor to the Western Morning News . Personal life and death . In his youth Townsend enjoyed tennis and skiing , and later he represented the House of Commons in these sports . He sang in the choir at Tavistock church . In 1976 Townsend married Anita Walshe , with whom he had two sons , Hugh and John . Townsend died at his home in Chillaton aged 75 . He had been suffering from leukaemia . External links . - Entry in The Townsend ( Townshend ) Family Records