Sir Nigel Thomas Loveridge Fisher, MC (14 July 1913 – 9 October 1996) was a Conservative Party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Early life

Son of naval officer Sir Thomas Fisher and Aimée Constance, daughter of Walter Loveridge, of

Oaken Oaken is a small village in Staffordshire, England. The first mention of the Oaken place-name was in 1086 when it was listed in the Domesday Book as ''Ache''. Its origin appears to be from the Old English, ''ācum'' - (place of) the oaks. Oaken ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, Fisher was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. He was in the

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WLSH GDS; ), part of the Guards and Parachute Division, Guards Division, is one of the Foot guards, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the World War I, First ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, serving as a major in northwest

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

on the field in 1945. He became a partner in a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

firm of surveyors.

Parliamentary career

Fisher contested

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater ...

in 1945. He was Member of Parliament for

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

from 1950 to 1955, and for

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...

from 1955 to 1983 – preceding

Richard Tracey Richard Patrick Tracey, (8 February 1943 – 19 March 2020), was a British Conservative Party politician, journalist and news presenter. He was the Member of Parliament for Surbiton from 1983 to 1997, and served as Minister for Sport betwe ...

. He was parliamentary private secretary to

Gwilym Lloyd George Gwilym Lloyd George, 1st Viscount Tenby, , later hyphenated Lloyd-George (4 December 1894 – 14 February 1967), was a Welsh politician and cabinet minister. The younger son of David Lloyd George, he served as Home Secretary from 1954 to 1957. ...

from 1951 and a junior minister for the Colonies from 1962 to 1963, and for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies from 1963 to 1964. Fisher wrote in 1973 the first biography of his close friend, the Tory statesman,

Iain Macleod Iain Norman Macleod (11 November 1913 – 20 July 1970) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. A playboy and professional Contract bridge, bridge player in his twenties, after war service Macleod worked for the ...

. Like Macleod, Fisher was on the liberal wing of the Tory party, opposing

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 ...

and supporting homosexual law reform. He was one of two Conservative MPs who refused to vote for the

Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 ( 10 & 11 Eliz. 2. c. 21) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act entailed stringent restrictions on the entry of Commonwealth citizens into the United Kingdom. Only those with work permits ...

and one of fifteen who voted against the

Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 (c. 9) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act The Act amended the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 (which had stripped most citizens of Commonwealth countries of the rights of entry, a ...

Family

In 1935, Fisher married Lady Gloria Vaughan, daughter of Ernest Edmund Henry Malet Vaughan, 7th Earl of Lisburne, and had two children. Their son

Mark Fisher Mark Fisher (11 July 1968 – 13 January 2017), also known under his blogging alias k-punk, was an English writer, music critic, political and cultural theorist, philosopher, and teacher based in the Department of Visual Cultures at Golds ...

was a Labour Party MP. He and his first wife divorced in 1952, and in 1956 he married erstwhile

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...

MP Patricia Ford. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

1974 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1974 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countrie ...

"for political and public services." By his mother's second marriage to the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

politician Sir

Geoffrey Shakespeare Sir Geoffrey Hithersay Shakespeare, 1st Baronet (23 September 1893 – 8 September 1980) was a British Liberal Party politician. Life Born in Norwich, the second son of Rev. John Howard Shakespeare, secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Bri ...

, 1st Baronet, Fisher was half-brother of the medical practitioner Sir William Geoffrey Shakespeare, 2nd Baronet, whose son is the sociologist and bioethicist

Tom Shakespeare Sir Thomas William Shakespeare, 3rd Baronet, (born 11 May 1966) is an English sociologist and bioethicist. He has achondroplasia and uses a wheelchair. Early life and education Son of Sir William Geoffrey Shakespeare, 2nd Baronet, and Su ...

.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 3, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 3578

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1950, 1966 & 1979 *
''Independent'' obituary

External links

* 1913 births 1996 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Bachelor People educated at Eton College Welsh Guards officers Recipients of the Military Cross UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 Spouses of British politicians {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1910s-stub