John Albert Powley (3 August 1936 – 16 October 2020) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Norwich South Norwich South is a constituency in Norfolk represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, since 2015 by Clive Lewis, of the Labour Party. History The constituency was created by the Representation of the People ...

between 1983 and 1987 and served as the chairman of the

Cambridgeshire County Council Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council for non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county, which additionally includes the City o ...

from 2011 to 2013. Powley also ran for MP for

Harlow Harlow is a town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a Planned community, new town in 1947, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire, and occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the ...

in 1979, but was beaten by

Labour and Co-operative Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated to Labour Co-op; ) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candidates contest elections under an e ...

politician

Stan Newens Arthur Stanley Newens (4 February 1930 – 2 March 2021) was a British Labour Co-operative politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1983, and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1984 to 1999. Bac ...

Biography

He was born to Albert and Evelyn Powley on 3 August 1936. He attended Cambridge Grammar School and the

Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public research university in the region of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins date back to the Cambridge School of Art (CSA), founded by William John Beamont, a Fellow of Trinity College at the Univers ...

before undergoing

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 ...

with the RAF. Powley was elected to

Cambridge City Council Cambridge City Council is the local authority for Cambridge, a non-metropolitan district with city status in the United Kingdom, city status in Cambridgeshire, England. The council has been under Labour Party (UK), Labour majority control since ...

and

Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely County Council Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely County Council was the county council of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely in the east of England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1965 and was abolished on 1 April 1974. The county council was based at Shire Hall, C ...

in 1967. In the mid-1970s, he was instrumental in the construction of the Grafton Centre in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, a shopping centre, though there was controversy at the time over the demolition of a number of nineteenth-century terraces as a result. He was leader of the City Council beginning in 1976. At the 1979 general election, he contested

, securing a 13% swing from Labour to Conservative, which just failed to oust Labour MP

(by 1,392 votes). He was elected as the Member of Parliament for

in the Conservative landslide 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 ...

, defeating Labour incumbent John Garrett, with a majority of 1,712 votes. However, at the 1987 election Garrett regained the seat with a narrow majority of 336 votes. Powley returned to local government in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

following his defeat. He served as one of the county councillors for

Soham Soham ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 road, A142 between Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely and Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket. Its population ...

and was prominent as a spokesman for the local community following the

Soham murders The Soham murders were a double child murder committed in Soham, Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire, England, on 4 August 2002. The victims were two 10-year-old girls, Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Amiee Chapman, who were lured into the home of a l ...

of 2003. He was Chairman of

for two years from 2011 to 2013, when he decided not to stand for re-election to the County Council after about 50 years of public service. He married Jill Palmer in 1957 and had three children with her: Stephen, Amanda and Stewart. Powley died in October 2020 at the age of 84.Members of our Association who have died during 2020
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References

External links

* *''The Times Guide to the House of Commons'',

Times Newspapers Ltd News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher of ...

, 1987 *
Cambridgeshire County CouncilPowley's profile at Cambridge County CouncilEastern Daily Press, 25 May 2013
1936 births 2020 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of Cambridgeshire County Council People from Soham UK MPs 1983–1987 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Royal Air Force airmen {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1930s-stub