Sir Anthony Stuart Garner (28 January 1927 – 22 March 2015) was a political organiser for the British Conservative Party.

Early life

Anthony Garner was born on 28 February 1927 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England.Sir Anthony Garner
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The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 14 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.Sir Anthony Garner, political organiser - obituary
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The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 14 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015. He was educated at

Liverpool College Liverpool College is a coeducational day and boarding school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, Headmasters' Conference. History Liverpool Coll ...

Career

Garner first worked for the Conservative Party as an organiser for the Young Conservatives in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in 1948. He revived the membership by organising fundraising weekends at

Filey Holiday Camp Filey Holiday Camp was a Butlin's holiday camp near Filey, North Yorkshire, England, built for Billy Butlin's holiday organisation. Construction of the camp began in 1939. From 1939 to 1945, the camp was used as a military training base, as RA ...

. By 1951, he became a Conservative Party agent in

Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woo ...

. He worked on the campaigns of Prime Ministers

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...

in 1959 and Sir

Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel ( ; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), known as Lord Dunglass from 1918 to 1951 and the Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...

in 1964. Later, he worked as an agent for London at the

Conservative Central Office The Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), formerly known as Conservative Central Office (CCO), is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members, including campaign coordinators and man ...

. He served as the Director of Organisation from 1976 to 1988.Anthony Seldon, Stuart Ball, ''Conservative century: the Conservative Party since 1900'', Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 18

/ref> In this capacity, he was instrumental in putting the local organisation in place that ensured that

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

won the elections of 1979, 1983 and 1987. He escaped unscathed from the

Brighton hotel bombing On 12 October 1984 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attempted to assassinate members of the British government, including the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England. Five people were killed, in ...

. He served as the Director of Campaigning from 1992 to 1998. He was a co-founder of Conservatives Abroad. He later worked as a lobbyist, co-founder and Chairman of the British-Iranian Chamber of Commerce. He also served on the Boards of Directors of the Carroll Anglo-American group, the Carroll Aircraft Corporation and the Farnborough Aerospace Development Corporation. He served as a Governor of his alma mater, Liverpool College, and as President of the Old Lerpoolian Association. He received a knighthood in 1984.

Personal life

He married Shirley Taylor in 1967 They had two sons, Christopher and David

Death

He died on 22 March 2015. He was eighty-eight years old.

References

1927 births 2015 deaths Politicians from Liverpool People educated at Liverpool College Knights Bachelor Conservative Party (UK) officials Grenadier Guards officers {{England-politician-stub