Winston Churchill

Winston Spencer Churchill was born on October 10, 1940, at Chequers, Buckinghamshire, England. He was the grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, and was often referred to as Winston Churchill MP to distinguish him from his grandfather. His father was Randolph Churchill, also a Member of Parliament (MP), and his mother was Pamela Harriman, who served as the United States Ambassador to France.

Churchill received education at Ludgrove School, Eton College, and Christ Church, Oxford. His grandfather passed away in 1965, and his father died three years later in 1968.

Before entering Parliament, Churchill worked as a journalist, notably covering conflicts in the Middle East during the Six-Day War, where he met Israeli politicians including Moshe Dayan. He authored a book recounting his experiences during the war. In the 1960s, he reported on conflicts in Yemen, Borneo, and the Vietnam War. In 1968, he visited Czechoslovakia to observe the Prague Spring. That same year, during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, he was assaulted by police amidst the political unrest. During the early 1970s, he covered the conflict and famine in Biafra, Nigeria, and reported from China and Portugal amid the Carnation Revolution. Churchill also undertook lecture tours in the United States and became a member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1965.

Churchill's political career included his unsuccessful bid for Parliament at the 1967 Manchester Gorton by-election. He became a Member of Parliament for Stretford in the 1970 general election and held various roles, including parliamentary Private Secretary to Julian Amery, Minister for Housing and Construction, and later a foreign policy spokesperson. During his tenure, he was known for his outspoken views on Middle Eastern issues and the Communist Bloc. He resigned from the Foreign Office in 1973 after criticizing Foreign Secretary Alec Douglas-Home.

During subsequent years, Churchill was involved in defending Ulster Unionism and took positions on issues such as the Diplock Courts, internment, and the death penalty for terrorists. He was a critic of BBC coverage of Northern Ireland and was involved in Conservative Party factional disputes, including a dismissal from the front bench by Margaret Thatcher in 1978. With boundary changes in 1983, his parliamentary seat became more marginal, leading him to transfer to the Davyhulme constituency, which he represented until it was abolished in 1997. Churchill did not attain high office but was active as a backbencher. His cousin, Nicholas Soames, served as a Conservative MP from 1983 until 2019.

Throughout his parliamentary career, Churchill participated in international visits, including trips to Beijing and the Middle East. Notably, he visited British troops in the Gulf War in 1990–91. In 1995, he and his family sold a substantial archive of his grandfather's papers to Churchill College, Cambridge, funded by a National Lottery grant.

After retiring from Parliament in 1997, Churchill became a speaker, wrote articles supporting various political causes, and edited collections such as "Never Give In!", a compilation of Winston Churchill's speeches. He was involved with the UK National Defence Association and the National Benevolent Fund for the Aged, serving as trustee from 1974 and chair from 1995 until 2010. Churchill attempted to be elected as a Member of the European Parliament but was unsuccessful.

He was married twice, first to Mary "Minnie" Caroline d'Erlanger in July 1964, with whom he had four children, including a son named Randolph. His second marriage was to Luce Engelen in 1997, lasting until his death.

Churchill resided in Belgravia, London. He died on March 2, 2010, at the age of 69, from prostate cancer. On March 9, 2010, he was buried in the family plot at St Martin’s Church in Bladon, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

Selected publications by Winston Churchill include "First Journey" (1964), "Six Day War" (1967, co-written with Randolph Churchill), "Defending the West" (1981), "Memories and Adventures" (1989), "His Father's Son" (1996), "The Great Republic" (1999, editor), and "Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches" (2003, editor).