John Edward Hugh Rees,

FRICS The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is a global professional body for those working in the Built Environment, Construction, Land, Property and Real Estate. The RICS was founded in London in 1868. It works at a cross-governmental ...

(8 January 1928 – 1 December 2003) was a British chartered auctioneer and surveyor, and politician. After a single term as a Conservative Party Member of Parliament, he went on to have several notable public appointments.

Early career

Rees was born in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, and went to Parc Wern School and Glanmor School in Swansea before moving to

Bromsgrove School Bromsgrove School is a co-educational boarding and day school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. Founded in 1553, it is one of the oldest public schools in Britain, and one of the 14 founding members of the Headmasters' Confer ...

. He trained as a chartered surveyor, and also became a Fellow of the Chartered Auctioneers and Estate Agents' Institute. He became involved in politics early in his life, and was Chairman of Glamorgan Young Conservative group council from 1954 to 1956 and then of Wales and Monmouthshire Young Conservative area council from 1956 to 1958.

Parliament

At the 1959 general election, Rees won the Swansea West constituency as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

, gaining the seat from Labour by a majority of 403 votes. Loyal to the government, Rees nevertheless stood up for Swansea against the prospect of

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which d ...

steelworks taking all of South Wales' investment; he also defended his constituents who had their homes on a

leasehold A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a Lease, lessee or a tenant has rights of real property by some form of title (property), title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold right ...

tenure. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Sir

Keith Joseph Keith Sinjohn Joseph, Baron Joseph, (17 January 1918 – 10 December 1994), known as Sir Keith Joseph, 2nd Baronet, for most of his political life, was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as a minister under f ...

from the end of May 1961.

Whip's Office

Rees was appointed as an Assistant Government Whip in April 1962, effectively silencing him in the chamber. However, he appeared as one of three young Conservative MPs in a party election broadcast at the start of the 1964 general election campaign. Rees was unable to withstand the national swing against the Conservatives, and lost his seat. He could not win it back either at the

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

elections.

Further appointments

Rees started his own business in Swansea after his defeat. He was also a Director of Abbey National plc from 1976 to 1991 and Chairman of their associated Abbey Housing Association Ltd from 1980 to 1992. His public career was not over, as he was made Chairman of the Cambrian Housing Society in 1968. In the same year, he was appointed to the Council of the

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, on which he served for 26 years. In 1972 he was given a spot on the United Kingdom delegation to the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

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, on which he served until 1978. Under the Thatcher government, Rees was a member of the

Welsh Development Agency Welsh Development Agency (WDA; ) was an executive agency (or QUANGO) and later designated an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB). Established in 1976, it was tasked with rescuing the ailing Welsh economy by encouraging business development and ...

from 1980 to 1986. Rees was unwell for some time before his death, when he was found dead in his car. At his death, his successor Alan Williams (who subsequently became

Father of the House of Commons Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously ...

) paid tribute to him for continuing to fight his ground in Swansea rather than find a better seat elsewhere.

References

*M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981) *''Who Was Who'', A&C Black *"The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1959" {{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Hugh 1928 births 2003 deaths Politicians from Swansea Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Swansea constituencies UK MPs 1959–1964 People educated at Bromsgrove School