Sir Patrick William Donner (4 December 1904 – 19 August 1988) was a British member of parliament (MP) and a member of the influential

Finland-Swedish Finland Swedish or Fenno-Swedish (; ) is a Variety (linguistics), variety of the Swedish language and a closely related group of Swedish dialects spoken in Finland by the Swedish-speaking population of Finland, Swedish-speaking population, common ...

Donner family The Donner family is one of the renowned and wealthy Swedish-speaking Finns, Finland-Swedish families that grew in importance during the times of the Grand Duchy of Finland. Family members have been influential in Finland, Finnish politics and cul ...

. His family moved from Helsinki, Finland, to London in 1919. His mother was Scottish Violet McHutchen and his father was Ossian Donner, who headed Finland's first diplomatic mission in London 1919 to 1925. The family later settled in England for good, and his father became a

British citizen The primary law governing nationality in the United Kingdom is the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983. Regulations apply to the British Islands, which include the UK itself (England, Wales, Scotland, and Nor ...

. Donner studied

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

and later entered business. He was elected at the 1931 election as

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 ...

MP for Islington West. The seat being marginal, Donner was selected for the safe Conservative seat of

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

for the 1935 election against the wishes of Conservative Central Office, who preferred Sir Francis Oswald Lindley. The papers of Sir Henry Maxence Cavendish Drummond Wolff appear to indicate that Sir

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when he, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, turned to fascism. ...

interviewed Donner to decide upon his suitability to serve as MP for the Basingstoke constituency, which had previously been held by two right-wing Conservatives, Drummond Wolff and Viscount Lymington. Donner also featured as writer for ''New Pioneer'', an anti-Semitic and pro-German journal bankrolled by Lymington and closely linked to the British People's Party.Martin Pugh, ''Hurrah for the Blackshirts! Fascists and Fascism in Britain Between the Wars'', Pimlico, 2006, p. 279 In Parliament, Donner was active on

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

and Indian policy, playing an important part in the India Defence League. He served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

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 ...

and 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 1953 Coronation Honours. He served as Basingstoke's MP for 20 years, stepping down at the 1955 election. Donner's

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

, ''Crusade: A Life Against the Calamitous Twentieth Century'', were released in 1984.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donner, Patrick 1904 births 1988 deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Bachelor British people of Finnish descent English people of Scottish descent English fascists UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 Finnish people of Scottish descent Donner family