a government whip
Which position did Carol Mather hold from Oct 1974 to Apr 1979?
Carol Mather Sir David Carol MacDonnell Mather ( 3 January 19193 July 2006 ) , known as Carol Mather , was a British soldier and politician . After serving 22 years in the British Army , he was the Member of Parliament for Esher from 1970 until 1987 . During his political career he held the offices of Lord Commissioner of the Treasury , as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household , and Comptroller of the Household . Early life . Mather was born in Adlington , Cheshire , the younger son of Loris Emerson Mather . His family owned Mather and Platt , an engineering company in Manchester , which was chaired by his father and later managed by his elder brother , William . His grandfather was Sir William Mather , who sat as MP for successively Salford South , Gorton and Rossendale from 1885 to 1904 . Mather was educated at Amesbury , Harrow and Trinity College , Cambridge , and then joined his elder brother at the family company as an apprentice for a short period . World War 2 . He joined the Welsh Guards at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 , and was trained at Sandhurst . In February 1940 , before his officer training was complete , Mather volunteered to join the 5th Special Reserve Battalion , Scots Guards . The battalion was formed in anticipation of supporting Finland in the Winter War in 1939–1940 , but the conflict ended before it left the UK . Mather returned to training with the Welsh Guards and was commissioned in March 1940 . He volunteered for training at the Irregular Warfare Training Centre in Lochailort in October 1940 , joined No . 8 Commando , and headed with the unit to North Africa in January 1941 as part of Layforce . After 8 Commando was disbanded on 1 August 1941 , Mather joined LDetachment , the nucleus of the future SAS headed by David Stirling , where he joined raids on Axis airfields , notably the raid on Sidi Haneish airfield in June 1942 . In October 1942 , he was offered the opportunity to join his elder brother on the staff of General Montgomery . Montgomery was a family friend , through his wife , Betty . Rejoining Stirlings force for a last operation deep behind enemy lines , he was captured by the Italians in Tripolitania on 20 December 1942 . He was transferred to Italy by submarine , and spent 9 months as a prisoner of war in Fontanellato in Northern Italy . He escaped in September 1943 , shortly after the Italians agreed an armistice with the Allies , and walked 600 miles down the Apennines to the Allied lines near Campobasso , north-east of Naples . He returned to England in November 1943 , and rejoined Montgomery as a liaison officer in early 1944 to assist with preparations for D-Day . He landed on D+1 , and remained with Montgomery through the operations in Northern France and Belgium , acting as Montgomerys eyes and ears on the front line . He was awarded the MC for a successful reconnaissance mission in Nijmegen on 18 September 1944 , on the second day of Operation Market Garden , while it was still occupied by the German Army . On 9 January 1945 , he survived being on an Auster that was shot down near Grave in the Netherlands : the pilot was killed , and another passenger , Major Richard Harden , took the controls and crash-landed while Mather deployed the flaps . Mather was hit by four bullets and badly injured , suffering 13 separate wounds and losing a kidney . He spent several months in hospital before rejoining Montgomery in July 1945 near Osnabrück . Post-war military career . Mather joined the regular army in 1946 , returning to his regiment the Welsh Guards in Palestine , where he remained until the independence of Israel in 1948 . He was Assistant Military Attaché in Athens from 1953 to 1956 , served in military intelligence in the War Office from 1956 to 1961 and in the Far East from 1961 to 1962 , when he retired with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel . Political career . He resigned his commission in 1962 to join the research department of the Conservative Party , working alongside Christopher Chataway and Anthony Meyer . His grandfather had been a Liberal MP . He became a councillor on Eton Rural District Council in 1965 . He stood for Parliament in Leicester North West at the 1966 general election ; the Labour safe seat was held by the incumbent Barnett Janner by a wide margin . He then joined 250 other aspiring MPs ( including colleagues from the research department ) in competing to be selected as prospective Parliamentary candidate for Esher , a safe Conservative seat , in 1969 . Elected at the 1970 general election , he disagreed almost immediately with Prime Minister Edward Heaths course of joining the European Economic Community . He remained a Eurosceptic throughout his political career . He also campaigned vigorously for the return of capital punishment ; supported the suggestion in 1974 for the creation of a 10,000-strong Citizen Volunteer Force to support the police ; supported the role of the Army in Northern Ireland , and Royal Ulster Constabulary ; and campaigned against the M25 being driven through his constituency . His strong right-wing views gained him appointments on various backbench committees , but did not endear him to the party leadership . He became less vocal in sharing his views when Margaret Thatcher appointed him as an opposition whip in 1975 , soon after she became leader of the Conservatives . After James Callaghans Labour government lost a motion of no confidence by one vote in 1979 , orchestrated in part by Mather , he became a government whip after the Conservatives won the 1979 general election . He served as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from 1979 to 1981 , as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from 1981 to 1983 , and finally as Comptroller of the Household from 1981 until 1987 . He received a knighthood in the 1987 New Years Honours List , and retired at the 1987 general election . Later years . In retirement , he wrote Aftermath of War : Everyone Must Go Home , published in 1992 . A memoir of his duties in Germany in 1945 , visiting camps holding Axis prisoners , including Cossacks and Yugoslavs who fought for the Germans and who were returned to face an uncertain future under Stalin and Tito , the book was also a defence of Harold Macmillan against allegations of treachery made by Nikolai Tolstoy . He published a war memoir in 1997 entitled : When the Grass Stops Growing . Death . Mather died on 3 July 2006 at the age of 87 in the Gloucestershire village of Lower Oddington . After a funeral service at St . Nicholas Church in Lower Oddington , his body was buried in its graveyard . Personal life . Mather married The Honourable Philippa Bewicke-Copley , daughter of the 5th Baron Cromwell , in 1951 , who survived him after 55 years of marriage . Together , they had one son and three daughters . He enjoyed sketching in pen and ink , and painting in watercolours . He also took part in and outdoor pursuits , including skiing and fishing . He played polo and enjoyed fox hunting . He also rode , and won , point-to-point races . Mathers private papers from World War 2 are held at the Imperial War Museum , London . Publications . - Aftermath of War : Everyone Must Go Home ( 1992 ) . - When the Grass Stops Growing ( 1997 ) . References . - Times Guide to the House of Commons , 1983 , . - Obituary , The Times , 5 July 2006 - Obituary , The Daily Telegraph , 5 July 2006 - Obituary , The Independent , 10 July 2006 - Obituary , The Guardian , 12 July 2006