Sir Anthony Meyer
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Sir Anthony John Charles Meyer, 3rd Baronet (27 October 1920 – 24 December 2004) was a British soldier, diplomat, and
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 ...
and later
Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...
politician, best known for standing against
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
for the party leadership in 1989. In spite of his staunch conservative views on economic policy, his passionate support of increased British integration into the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
led to him becoming increasingly marginalised in Thatcher's Conservative Party. After being deselected as a Conservative parliamentary candidate for the 1992 general election, Meyer became policy director of the
European Movement The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History Initially the Euro ...
, and in 1998 he joined the
Pro-Euro Conservative Party The Pro-Euro Conservative Party was a minor, Pro-European British political party, announced by John Stevens and Brendan Donnelly in February 1999, formed to contest the 1999 European Parliament election. The founders were Members of the Europe ...
. After that disbanded in 2001, he became a member of the Liberal Democrats.


Background

Meyer was born in London on 27 October 1920, the son of Marjorie Amy Georgina (née Seeley) and Sir Frank Cecil Meyer. His father was vice-chairman of the
De Beers The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...
diamond company, and from 1924 to 1929 he was Conservative Member of Parliament for
Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...
, Norfolk. His father was from a Jewish family. His grandfather,
Sir Carl Meyer, 1st Baronet Sir Carl Ferdinand Meyer, 1st Baronet (23 December 1851 – 18 December 1922) was a British banker and mining magnate. Personal life Meyer was born in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, in a Jewish family, the second son of Siegmund Meye ...
, was born in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, Germany; he migrated to Britain in the late 19th century, when he worked for the
Rothschilds The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...
, and later for De Beers; he eventually became Governor of the
National Bank of Egypt National Bank of Egypt (NBE; ) is a bank founded in Egypt in June 1898, and is the country's largest bank (2013) in terms of assets, deposits, loans, bank-capital, number of total branches, and employees.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 ...
cy for the large donations he made to found a National Theatre in Britain.


Education and war service

Meyer was educated at
Sandroyd School Sandroyd School is an independent co-educational preparatory school for day and boarding pupils aged 2 to 13 in the south of Wiltshire, England. The school's main building is Rushmore House, a 19th-century country house which is surrounded by th ...
in Wiltshire before winning a scholarship to
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 ...
. He inherited the baronetcy when his father died in a hunting accident on 19 October 1935. Like his father, he also attended
New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...
, but after one year he joined the
Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Ki ...
in 1941, the same year he married Barbadee Knight; they had one son and three daughters. During the
battle for Caen The Battle for Caen (June to August 1944) was a military engagement between the British Second Army and the German in the Second World War for control of the city of Caen and its vicinity during the Battle of Normandy. Caen is about inland f ...
, in the break-out from the Normandy invasion beaches he was seriously wounded when the tank he was travelling in was hit, and he spent the next nine months on his back in hospital. During this time he read extensively to make up for his lost years at Oxford, but decided not to return to university. Instead, he joined
HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...
where he mostly worked on winding up the affairs of the
Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent Occupation ...
.


Diplomatic career

In 1946 Meyer passed the
Foreign Service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...
examinations, and from 1951 to 1956 he was appointed to the British Embassy in Paris, where he became First Secretary in 1953. The subsequent appointment to the embassy in Moscow was not so enjoyable – he did not speak the language, and confined to the "diplomatic ghetto" through the Soviet government's ban on foreign contacts with its citizens, he said he did not have a job to do. He was rescued by a Soviet attempt to compromise him – he reported an attempt to lure him into a cab by a woman agent to the ambassador, who put Meyer and his family on the next plane home. Between 1958 and 1962, he worked at the
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...
on European political problems, at a time when the Office was changing its policy from being against the "
Common Market A single market, sometimes called common market or internal market, is a type of trade bloc in which most trade barriers have been removed (for goods) with some common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of the factors of ...
" to in favour of Britain's joining it.


Political career


Entry into politics

The death of his mother in 1962 provided Meyer with the family's wealth, and he decided to enter politics to support his pro-European views. That year, he resigned from the Foreign Office to work unpaid for the Common Market Campaign led by
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 ...
peer
Gladwyn Jebb Hubert Miles Gladwyn Jebb, 1st Baron Gladwyn (25 April 1900 – 24 October 1996) was a prominent British civil servant, diplomat and politician who served as the acting secretary-general of the United Nations between 1945 and 1946. Early li ...
. He later said that he was initially undecided whether to stand for the Conservatives or the Liberals, but his admiration for the Conservative prime minister
Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...
swung his choice. In 1963, Meyer was selected to fight the constituency of
Eton and Slough Eton and Slough was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system. History The House of Commons (Re ...
, then held by Labour's leftwing internationalist
Fenner Brockway Archibald Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway (1 November 1888 – 28 April 1988) was a British socialist politician, humanist campaigner and anti-war activist. Early life and career Brockway was born to Rev. William George Brockway and Frances Eliz ...
. In the 1964 General Election, Meyer won the seat by 11 votes, gaining respect by ignoring his constituency party's advice to campaign on the race issue, which could have swung a number of votes in that constituency at the time. His was one of only four Conservative gains in that election. Recognising that he would only be in the seat temporarily, Meyer made the most of his time in Parliament, advocating Britain's joining the Common Market and strengthening the United Nations. He also established himself on the liberal wing of the party: voting to abolish capital punishment and for sanctions against
Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
. In the 1966 General Election he lost his seat to Labour's
Joan Lestor Joan Lestor, Baroness Lestor of Eccles (13 November 1927 – 27 March 1998) was a British Labour politician. She was MP for Eton and Slough between 1966 and 1983, and MP for Eccles from 1987 to 1997. Early life Lestor was born in Vancouver, Br ...
by 4,663 votes. His liberalism made him almost untouchable in the Conservative Party, and his applications to stand in six constituencies (including
Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...
, where he lived) were rejected, but eventually fellow
Old Etonian Eton College ( ) is a public school providing boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated prime ministers, world leaders, Nobel laureates, Academy Award and BAFTA ...
Nigel Birch Evelyn Nigel Chetwode Birch, Baron Rhyl (18 November 1906 – 8 March 1981) was a British Conservative politician. The son of General Sir Noel Birch and his wife Florence Chetwode, Nigel Birch was educated at Eton. He was a partner in ...
recommended Meyer to replace him in the constituency of West Flintshire, in north-eastern Wales. He returned to parliament at the 1970 general election.


MP for West Flintshire

Meyer became a popular MP in his new constituency, gaining a reputation for putting the interests of his constituency ahead of Conservative government policy, for example by voting against the closure of the Shotton steelworks, supporting the
Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first Twinjet, twin-engine, double-aisle Wide-body aircraft, (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured f ...
B whose wings some of his constituents built, against its all-British rival the BAC 3-11, while insisting on the importance of an effective pan-European technology. After Labour's return to power in 1974, he opposed continued sanctions against the white minority government in Rhodesia, claiming that it was intended to transfer power "forcibly to a violent minority". When the Conservative party returned to power under
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
in 1979, Meyer's type of pro-Europeanism was at odds with the
Euroscepticism Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek reform ...
of the bulk of the party. When his Flintshire West constituency's boundaries were expanded and redrawn to form the Clwyd North West constituency in 1983, there was an attempt by local party activists to replace him with the more Thatcherite MEP,
Beata Brookes Beata Ann Brookes (21 January 1930The year 1931 is recorded in "Who's Who" and "Debrett's People of Today". However, "The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1955" (page 165) gives her year of birth as 1929, and "The Times Guide to the House of ...
, whom Meyer managed to defeat.


Leadership challenge

On 23 November 1989, at a time of both Thatcher's and the Conservative Party's waning popularity and shortly after
Nigel Lawson Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, (11 March 1932 – 3 April 2023) was a British politician and journalist. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament for Blaby in Leicestershire from 1974 to 1992, and served ...
's resignation as chancellor, 69-year-old Meyer put himself forward as the pro-European
stalking horse A stalking horse is a figure used to test a concept or mount a challenge on behalf of a third party. If the idea proves viable or popular, the third party can then declare its interest and advance the concept with little risk of failure. If the con ...
for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Meyer fully expected that one of the more prominent pro-Europeans such as
Ian Gilmour Ian Hedworth John Little Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar, (8 July 1926 – 21 September 2007) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was styled Sir Ian Gilmour, 3rd Baronet from 1977, having succeeded to his fat ...
or
Michael Heseltine Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket Media Group in 1957. Heseltine se ...
would take over the role; in the event, none of them did so, and Meyer had no illusions that he had any chance of success. He was derided as "Sir Anthony Whats'isname" by the pro-Thatcher ''
Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
'' newspaper, who reported that he was the only Conservative MP to oppose the use of force to win back the
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
following the Argentine invasion of 1982 and had backed a number of Labour policies, including votes against Tory-led welfare benefit cuts and immigration issues. He was also slammed by the ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
'' as "Sir Nobody". In the 1989 leadership election on 5 December, Meyer was defeated by 314 votes to 33, but when
spoilt vote In voting, a ballot is considered spoilt (chiefly British), spoiled (chiefly American), void, null, informal, invalid, rejected or stray if a law declares or an election authority determines that it is invalid and thus not included in the Vote ...
s and abstentions were added it was discovered that 60 MPs out of 374 had failed to support Thatcher. Meyer said that "people started to think the unthinkable", and Thatcher was ousted in November 1990 to be succeeded by
John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...
. Michael Heseltine, who would challenge Thatcher the following year, was reported by ''The Glasgow Herald'' as being believed to be one of the three MPs who did not vote in the contest. The same newspaper also reported that in the aftermath of the vote Hesseltine's supporters argued the result showed that unless Mrs Thatcher changed "her style of leadership", she would "be on her way out next year". On 19 January 1990, Meyer was deselected as a candidate for the 1992 general election by the Clwyd North West constituency party for his "treachery", by a 2–1 majority. The deselection campaign was enlivened by a tabloid newspaper's revelation that Meyer had for 26 years had an affair with Simone Washington, a former model and blues singer.


Post-parliamentary career

After his forced career change in 1992 Meyer became policy director for the
European Movement The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History Initially the Euro ...
, and in 1998 he defected to the
Pro-Euro Conservative Party The Pro-Euro Conservative Party was a minor, Pro-European British political party, announced by John Stevens and Brendan Donnelly in February 1999, formed to contest the 1999 European Parliament election. The founders were Members of the Europe ...
before becoming a member of the Liberal Democrats. In 1999 he stood unsuccessfully, during the European Parliament elections, for the London seat. After 1999 he became a lecturer on European affairs until his death.


Death

Meyer died from
colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...
at his home in
Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...
, on 24 December 2004, at the age of 84. His son, Anthony Ashley Frank Meyer (born 1944), succeeded him in the baronetcy.


In popular culture

Meyer was portrayed by
Geoffrey Wilkinson Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson FRS (14 July 1921 – 26 September 1996) was a Nobel laureate English chemist who pioneered inorganic chemistry and homogeneous transition metal catalysis. Education and early life Wilkinson was born at Springside, Todm ...
in the 2002
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 ...
production of
Ian Curteis Ian Bayley Curteis (1 May 1935 – 24 November 2021) was a British dramatist and television director. Life and career Curteis was born in London on 1 May 1935, and began his career as an actor, joining Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in the m ...
' controversial ''
The Falklands Play ''The Falklands Play'' is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had incre ...
''.


Arms

(German: I rest, I rust)


Legacy

The Papers of Sir Anthony Meyer are housed at the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
. The papers can be accessed through the British Library catalogue.Papers of Sir Anthony Meyer
archives and manuscripts catalogue, the British Library. Retrieved 15 May 2020


References


External links

* *

''The Guardian'', 8 January 2005
Obituary – Sir Anthony Meyer
''Times Online'', 8 January 2005

''Daily Telegraph'', 10 January 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Anthony, 3rd Baronet 1920 births 2004 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford Military personnel from London British Army personnel of World War II Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Deaths from colorectal cancer in England English people of German-Jewish descent Government and politics of Slough Liberal Democrats (UK) politicians 3 People educated at Sandroyd School People from Slough Politicians of the Pro-Euro Conservative Party Scots Guards officers UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 People educated at Eton College