Christopher John Ferguson Ward (born 26 December 1942) is a British

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and Conservative Party politician, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for only seven months after winning a by-election. His attempts to be selected for a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

were thwarted, and when he found a winnable

marginal seat A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. T ...

, he found his vote split by an unofficial Conservative candidate.

Education

Ward was educated at Magdalen College School in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, and then at the Law Society School of Law;"Who's Who", A & C Black. He was admitted to the roll of

s in January 1965, and employed as a solicitor in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

."Five by-elections on October 30", ''The Times'', 14 October 1969, p. 1.

Political career

County councillor

Ward was already committed to the Conservative Party and was elected Chairman of the Young Conservatives in the

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

area."The Times Diary", ''The Times'', 6 May 1972, p. 14. In 1965 Ward began his political career when he was elected to

Berkshire County Council Berkshire County Council, also known as the County Council of the Royal County of Berkshire, was the county council for Berkshire in England. It was created in 1889 and abolished in 1998. The council had responsibilities for education, social ...

. He became chairman of the Road Safety committee and in February 1969 he condemned the state of the A4 between

and

Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The population of the parish at the 2021 census was 5,869. The Kennet and Avon Can ...

as a "killer road", after 38 people were killed on the road in the space of eighteen months.Geoffrey Charles, "New speed limits on the way", ''The Times'', 26 February 1969, p. 4.

By-election campaign

When Labour MP Francis Noel-Baker resigned from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1969, Ward was selected as the Conservative candidate in the resulting by-election. Ward noted that the large number of candidates (the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

and a "Young Socialist" candidate stood) could help him win if disenchanted Labour voters stayed at home.Denis Taylor, "Liberals hopeful at Swindon", ''The Times'', 23 October 1969, p. 10. After a recount, Ward won with a majority of 478, overturning Noel-Baker's majority of over 10,000 at the 1966 general election; his victory speech was received with hostility by a Labour-supporting crowd.Tim Jones, "Winner is shouted down", ''The Times'', 31 October 1969, p. 1.

Parliament

Ward made his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

in a debate on

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

in December 1969, declaring that he wanted to vote for abolition of the death penalty with a clear conscience but that there was inadequate evidence that it was safe to do so."Mr Hogg predicts hanging will be election issue: censure rejected by 62 votes", ''The Times'', 16 December 1969, p. 4. In January 1970 he initiated a debate on housebuilding, insisting that half a million houses needed to be built every year in order to solve the housing problem; he called on the Labour government to apologise for failing to meet that target."Housing achievement still best – Minister", ''The Times'', 28 January 1970, p. 4.

Defeat

At the general election in June 1970, Ward tried to attract attention by campaigning on a horse and cart. David Butler and Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, "The British General Election of 1970" (Macmillan, 1970), p. 321. However, he could not prevent the Labour candidate David Stoddart retaking the seat with a majority of 5,576."The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1970", p. 213.

Selections

Ward began to look around for a winnable constituency to fight, and was considered for the Arundel and Shoreham constituency in a 1971 byelection."The Times Diary", ''The Times'', 6 February 1971, p. 12. In 1972 he was shortlisted for Mid Oxon, losing out to

Douglas Hurd Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, (born 8 March 1930) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1979 to 1995. A career diplomat and ...

,"The Times Diary", ''The Times'', 22 January 1972, p. 12. and for

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

, losing out to

Norman Lamont Norman Stewart Hughson Lamont, Baron Lamont of Lerwick, (born 8 May 1942) is a British politician and former Conservative MP for Kingston-upon-Thames. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990 until 1993. He was created a life peer i ...

; he was perceived as being on the left of the Conservative Party."The Times Diary", ''The Times'', 4 February 1972, p. 12. He was also edged out at Christchurch and Lymington by Robert Adley, at

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

by Ronald Bell,"The Times Diary", ''The Times'', 13 June 1972, p. 14. and at

Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

Tim Sainsbury Sir Timothy Alan Davan Sainsbury (born 11 June 1932) is a Conservative politician and businessman in the United Kingdom. Early life Sainsbury is the youngest son of Alan Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury, and his wife Doreen. His elder brothers are ...

."Two former MPs on Tory short list for Hove", ''The Times'', 1 October 1973, p. 2. Ward was ultimately not selected anywhere in the

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years and 29 in leap years, with the February 29, 29th day being called the ''leap day''. February is the third a ...

and October 1974 general elections.

Eton and Slough candidate

Ward had stood down from Berkshire County Council in 1970, but returned to it in 1974; he served as Deputy Leader and chair of the Finance sub-committee. He was also a member of the South East Regional Planning Council."The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1979", p. 109. He had better luck with Parliamentary selections in 1976 when he was chosen as Conservative candidate for Eton and Slough. At the 1976 Conservative Party conference, Ward opened the discussion on "People, Parliament and the Constitution", arguing that Britain was no longer a truly free society because the Labour government wanted a state-controlled society."Lord Carrington rejects Government's devolution plan for Scotland and Wales", ''The Times'', 8 October 1976, p. 6. At the 1979 general election, Ward faced an additional challenge when a rebel local Conservative councillor who had recently served as Mayor was nominated as an unofficial candidate.David Butler and Denis Kavanagh, "The British General Election of 1979" (Macmillan, 1979), p. 421. Ward ended up losing the election by 1,340 votes, with the unofficial candidate taking 2,359 votes.

Later career

Later in 1979, Ward became Leader of Berkshire County Council (Chairman of the Policy Committee); he served until 1981 when the Conservatives lost control. He was a Governor of Chiltern Nursery Training College from 1975 to 1997, serving as Chairman in 1988–91; he also served London Conservative clubland as honorary Secretary of the United and Cecil Club from 1982 to 1987, and became club Treasurer in 1993.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Christopher 1942 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1966–1970 Members of Berkshire County Council