Julian Amery, Baron Amery Of Lustleigh

Harold Julian Amery, Baron Amery of Lustleigh, was a British politician affiliated with the Conservative Party. He was born on 27 March 1919 in Chelsea, London, and died on 3 September 1996 at the age of 77 in Westminster, London. Amery served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for a total of 39 years within the period from 1950 to 1992.

His father was Leo Amery, a well-known British statesman and Conservative politician. Harold Julian Amery was educated at Eaton House, Summer Fields School, Eton College, and Balliol College, Oxford. During his undergraduate years, he had a brief romantic relationship with Barbara Pym, who would later become a novelist.

Prior to the Second World War, Amery worked as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War, and subsequently served as an attaché for the British Foreign Office in Belgrade. When the war commenced, he joined the Royal Air Force as a sergeant in 1940. In 1941, he was commissioned and transferred to the British Army on the General List, attaining the rank of captain. His military service in 1941–42 included posting in the Middle East, Malta, and Yugoslavia. Between 1943 and 1944, he acted as a liaison officer to the Albanian Resistance Movement. The following year, he participated in work in China alongside General Carton de Wiart, who served as the Prime Minister's personal representative to Chiang Kai-shek.

Amery was close to King Zog of Albania, whom he described as "the cleverest man I have ever met." After completing his military service, Amery returned to civilian life and entered politics. He successfully elected as a Conservative MP for Preston North in 1950. He held various governmental roles during his parliamentary career, including Under-Secretary of State for War (1957–1958), Under-Secretary for the Colonies (1958–1960), Secretary of State for Air (1960–1962), and Minister of Aviation (1962–1964). During his tenure as Minister of Aviation, Amery was involved in planning the development of the Concorde supersonic passenger aircraft.

Amery lost his seat in Preston North in 1966 but was re-elected in 1969, representing Brighton Pavilion, a seat he held until retiring from the House of Commons in 1992. Upon retirement, he was granted a life peerage, becoming Baron Amery of Lustleigh, of Preston in Lancashire and Brighton in East Sussex.

Throughout his political career, Amery served in several ministerial positions under various administrations. Under Prime Minister Edward Heath, he served as Minister for Public Building and Works (1970), Minister for Housing and Construction (1970–1972), and Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1972–1974).

He was an active member of the Conservative Monday Club for three decades, where he also served as a patron. His involvement in the club included writing forewords for publications and participating as a speaker at events, notably on issues related to the policies of the time including anti-Soviet positions and debates on South African cricket tours.

In terms of political ideology, Amery supported the UK's entry into the European Economic Community and maintained staunch views on the nuclear deterrent. He opposed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1948 due to concerns over imperial preference limitations. In 1962, he commented on geopolitical issues concerning the Middle East and Africa, emphasizing resource access as vital to UK prosperity.

He supported conservative policies such as opposition to Scottish devolution in 1976, as noted by Margaret Thatcher in her memoir. Despite being Harold Macmillan’s son-in-law, Amery did not defend Macmillan in later controversies related to the 1945 Bleiburg and Cossack repatriations, describing the latter as "one of the few blots on Harold that I can think of."

In his personal life, Amery married Catherine Macmillan, daughter of Harold Macmillan, on 26 January 1950. The couple had one son and three daughters. Catherine Macmillan passed away in 1991. Harold Julian Amery died from heart failure in 1996 and is buried alongside his wife and father Leo Amery at the Church of St John the Baptist in Lustleigh, Devon.