Ronald Carlile Buxton (20 August 1923 – 10 January 2017) was a Chartered

Structural Engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research List of structural elements, structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of ...

, successful businessman, and 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 ...

.Obituary,

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

,18 Jan 2017

Early life and background

Buxton was the son of British Army officer Captain Murray Buxton and Janet, daughter of Sir Edward Carlile, 1st

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, a former MP for

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

. Buxton was educated at Eton and, after fighting in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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 ...

(reaching the rank of captain in the

REME The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm 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 ...

and receiving the MC), went up to

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 ...

in 1945, taking an MA.

Political career

Buxton came to national attention for a spectacular showing at the polls, prompting Sir Alex Douglas-Home to declare "The best epitaph on hundred days of socialist government...my friend the member for Leyton". The unconcealed joy was not to last; he was a Member of Parliament for a little over a year, after winning an unexpected

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

victory in 1965. Buxton was the Conservative candidate in the safe Labour constituency of

Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...

at the 1955 general election, losing by 8,244 votes to the long-serving Labour MP Reginald Sorensen. He was unsuccessful again at the 1959 election and at the October 1964 general election, when Sorensen's majority was 3,919 votes. Buxton had cast around for another seat but was refused the nomination for the constituency where he lived, and failed to secure the Conservative nomination for South-West Norfolk. Shortly after the 1964 election, Sorensen was persuaded to accept a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

age to make way in a safe seat for the Foreign Secretary

Patrick Gordon Walker Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker, Baron Gordon-Walker, (7 April 1907 – 2 December 1980) was a British Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament for nearly 30 years and twice a cabinet minister. He lost his Smethwick parliamenta ...

, who had lost his seat in

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...

. However, the plan failed and on 25 January Buxton won the

1965 Leyton by-election The 1965 Leyton by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 21 January 1965 for the House of Commons constituency of Leyton in east London. The seat had become vacant when the constituency's long-serving Labour Member of Parliament (MP ...

by a narrow margin of only 205 votes, on a reduced turnout.

David Dimbleby David Dimbleby (born 28 October 1938) is an English journalist and former presenter of current affairs and political programmes, best known for having presented the BBC topical debate programme '' Question Time''. He is the son of broadcaster ...

, later to become the anchor (from 1979) of the BBC Election results programmes, reported the result live from a snowy Leyton Town Hall for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. Gordon Walker regained the seat for Labour at the 1966 general election, with a comfortable majority. Buxton stood again at the 1970 election, but lost again, by over 5,000 votes.

Professional life

Buxton joined the steel construction company H. Young & Co. as an engineer, and eventually became the firm's chairman. In

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

he built a bridge across a deep creek near

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, and for a while collected the tolls himself but decided to sell it. He identified with British settlers in Africa, and at the 1958 Conservative Party Conference asked that their position be safeguarded in independence negotiations. In July the same year he nearly died when flying his own plane to

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, becoming lost in a storm between

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

with low fuel. He spotted a tanker, put a note in his shoe and dropped it on to the deck. When the engine died, the plane dropped into the sea and the crew rescued him from the water. This experience did not deter him from flying.

Personal life

He married on 20 June 1959, his distant cousin Phyllida, daughter of Captain Roden Henry Victor Buxton, CBE, RN, and Dorothy St John.Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. Volume 1, page 622. They had four children: * Peter Hildred Buxton (1960-) * Camilla Jane Buxton (1960-) * Vanessa Ann Buxton (1962-) * Robert Victor Buxton (1966-) Buxton purchased Kimberley Hall,

Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. It lies on the River Tiffey, south-west of Norwich and just off the A11 road (England), A11 road to London. The pari ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

- still owned by the Buxton family- in 1958. It had been due for demolition. Buxton aimed to restore it to some grandeur, but not before evicting from residence a rare colony of English bats. Buxton died on 10 January 2017 at the age of 93.

Notes

External links

UK General Elections since 1832

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buxton, Ronald C 1923 births 2017 deaths People educated at Eton College Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers officers British structural engineers UK MPs 1964–1966 British Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Military Cross 20th-century English businesspeople