"First and foremost a patriot": tribute to Derek Conway
4 min read
Derek Conway put his military experience to good use as a government whip – but his style was characterised by decency and compassion. A man who always fought for the underdog, he was dedicated to his family and his country
Born in February 1953, Derek Conway grew up in Newcastle and then in Gateshead. From an early age, he showed the true characteristics of leadership, decisiveness and steely courage – not least in being a Conservative by conviction in an area where Tories were more likely to be chased down the street than supported in the polls.
He became the youngest person ever to be elected to Gateshead borough and then to Tyne and Wear metropolitan councils, later becoming leader of the Conservative group. Michael Heseltine appointed him to the Washington Development Corporation, one of the most successful such corporations in the country.
Elected as MP for Shrewsbury in 1983, Derek would particularly fight for the underdog. During his time as vice-chamberlain of the HM Household, he was entitled to receive haunches of venison from the Royal Estate, which he distributed to local care homes in his constituency.
Derek also served in the territorial army as a battalion intelligence officer and as the second-in-command of his infantry company. He was awarded the territorial decoration. In an unfashionable era, Derek was first and foremost a patriot.
All his military experiences came in useful after he entered Parliament and became a government whip. This was the era of Maastricht, before social media and modernisation hobbled government whips’ offices. Derek was not just militarily efficient; his style was characterised by decency and compassion.
But he could also be steely when required. When he was the whip responsible for managing the government’s voting strength, a senior defence minister flew to Hong Kong without Derek’s permission, thus endangering the government’s majority. This minister was made to turn around at the airport and return home on the next flight once he had landed at Hong Kong airport. On another occasion, in a very tight vote, Derek was observed encouraging Nicholas Winterton – a prominent but sometimes difficult MP – to support the government by physically lifting his somewhat oversized frame over the threshold and into the government lobby. The government won that vote with a majority of two.
But for Derek, the most enjoyable part of his parliamentary career was reporting on the proceedings of the House every day to Her Late Majesty the Queen as vice-chamberlain of the HM Household. Derek would visit the Queen about once a month for an audience; while never indiscreet, Derek did tell me at the time that Her Late Majesty was not averse to the odd piece of scurrilous political gossip and rumour.
When the Conservative government came to an end in 1997, Derek and I, among others, were swept out in the Blair landslide. But the following election, Derek and I returned to the House of Commons in 2001 – Derek representing prime minister Ted Heath’s former constituency of Old Bexley and Sidcup. It would be fair to say that Derek and Heath were not natural political soulmates, but they got on well.
But the most important decision of Derek’s life was his marriage to Colette. They met when she was applying makeup to his ruddy features before a TV show. It was love at first sight: within nine weeks they were engaged, and they married in 1980. Two years later their son Henry arrived, followed by Freddie and, in 1989, Claudia. It was a marriage and a family much admired at Westminster: close, mutually supportive, and overflowing with love whatever the circumstances. In the last few days of his life, when I asked Derek how long he had been married to Colette, his succinct response was: “Not long enough.”
Husband, father and friend, we grieve for a man who has gone far too soon and whose memory we will hold in our hearts forever.
Andrew Mitchell is Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield
