Sir Donald Thompson (3 November 1931 – 14 March 2005) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 until 1997. Thompson attended

Trinity Academy, Halifax Trinity Academy (formerly Holy Trinity Church of England Senior School) is a church aided 10 to 16 co-educational academy school located in Halifax in the Anglican Diocese of Leeds, England. The school was founded in 1815 by the then Vicar of ...

, and

Hipperholme Grammar School Hipperholme Grammar School is a private grammar school in Hipperholme (near Halifax), West Yorkshire, England. It educates pupils between the ages of 3 and 16. Lightcliffe Preparatory School merged with Hipperholme Grammar School in 2003, un ...

. Following

National service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

he ran a farm near Halifax then joined the family butcher business of his father, Geoff Thompson, known for its

black pudding Black pudding is a distinct national type of blood sausage originating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is made from pork or occasionally beef Blood as food, blood, with Lard, pork fat or Suet, beef suet, and a cereal, usually oatmeal, oat ...

s. His mother, Rachel, had worked as a weaver from the age of 12 until her marriage. Thompson expanded the business considerably and also developed a successful plastics manufacturing business. Thompson became involved in politics at a young age, setting up Halifax Young Conservatives. He became a

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

lor for the

West Riding The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The lieutenancy at that time included the city of York a ...

from 1967, joining the new

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

county council in 1974, then

Calderdale Calderdale () is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the ...

district council from 1975 until 1979. He first stood for

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the 1970 general election for the safe Labour seat of

Batley and Morley Batley and Morley was a parliamentary constituency centred on the towns of Batley and Morley in West Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was ...

. He stood in the marginal seat of Sowerby in both the February 1974 and October 1974 elections, losing by small margins. In the 1979 election he stood again in Sowerby, beating

Max Madden Maxwell Francis Madden (born 29 October 1941) is a British journalist and Labour Party politician. Parliamentary career Madden unsuccessfully fought Sudbury and Woodbridge in 1966, coming second. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) ...

by 1,180. At the

1983 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1983. Africa * 1983 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1983 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1983 Kenyan general election * 1983 Malagasy parliamentary election * 1983 Malawian general elec ...

, the seat was adjusted and renamed

Calder Valley Calder may refer to: People * Calder (surname) * Clan Calder, a Highland Scottish clan Places * Calder, Tasmania, Australia, a locality * Calder, Edmonton, a neighbourhood in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada * Calder, Saskatchewan, Canada ...

. Thompson was known as a solid, stout, no-nonsense

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 ...

man. He worked his way up through the

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

s office before joining the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

as a junior minister. He was sacked in 1989 but bore no resentment against

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 ...

, telling his colleagues: "There is no iceberg here, but a shire horse unharnessed and put out to grass on blue Conservative grass." At the last Prime Minister's Questions given by

in November 1990 he famously said that if the Prime Minister visited his constituency, she would find scores of people telling her what they had told him, that she "was a good 'un." Thompson was knighted in the

1992 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1992 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

. He lost his seat in the 1997 Labour landslide. He was married in 1957 to Patricia Hopkins, with whom he had two sons. In July 1997, following the loss of his seat in parliament, Thompson was appointed Director of the

War Memorials Trust War Memorials Trust works for the protection and conservation of war memorials in the UK. The charity provides free information and advice as well as administering grant schemes for the repair and conservation of war memorials. War Memorials T ...

(then known as The Friends of War Memorials), a

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

which he had helped to found in 1996. He held the post until his death in 2005, aged 73.

External links

The Guardian newspaper's obituary of Donald Thompson

The Independent newspaper's obituary of Donald Thompson

War Memorials Trust
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Donald 1931 births 2005 deaths Politicians from Halifax, West Yorkshire Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in West Yorkshire Knights Bachelor UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 People educated at Hipperholme Grammar School People educated at Trinity Academy, Halifax Members of West Riding County Council Councillors in Calderdale