Pierson John Shirley Dixon (29 December 1928 – 24 March 2017), known as Piers Dixon, was a British Conservative Party politician who represented

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

between 1970 and 1974.

Early life

The son of diplomat and writer, Sir Pierson Dixon, he 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 ...

;

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

; and

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. He worked as a stockbroker.

Career

Dixon contested

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

at the 1966 general election and was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for

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 ...

. He was re-elected in February 1974, but lost the seat to the Liberal David Penhaligon in the October 1974 general election, by 464 votes (0.8%). No Conservative MP represented Truro after Dixon's defeat until Sarah Newton regained the seat from the Liberal Democrats in 2010.

Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tr ...

noted Dixon in his 1983–92 diaries, writing "when (the Liberals) get stuck in, really stuck in, they are devilish hard to dislodge".

Interests

Dixon was a member of the Monday Club and the Bow Group.

Personal life

Dixon married four times. His first wife was the sculptor Edwina Sandys, a daughter of

Duncan Sandys Duncan Edwin Duncan-Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys (; 24 January 1908 – 26 November 1987), was a British politician and minister in successive Conservative governments in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a son-in-law of Winston Churchill and played a ...

and Diana Churchill. They had two sons, Mark and Hugo. The second was Janet, Countess of Cowley. In 1984, Dixon married Anne Cronin, daughter of

John Desmond Cronin John Desmond Cronin (1 March 1916 – 3 January 1986) was a British surgeon and Labour Party politician. Early life and education He was born in Simla, British India (since 1947 known as Shimla), the summer capital of India in the days of the ...

, former Labour MP; they had one son, Alexander. In 1994, he married Ann Mavroleon, daughter of John Davenport.

Death

He died in March 2017 at the age of 88.

References

External links

* 1928 births 2017 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Harvard Business School alumni Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Truro People educated at Eton College UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1920s-stub