Julian Ridsdale

Sir Julian Errington Ridsdale was born on 8 June 1915 and died on 21 July 2004. He was a British politician affiliated initially with the National Liberal Party and later with the Conservative Party. Ridsdale served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Harwich for nearly four decades.

Family and Education:

He was the son of a stockbroker and had familial connections to prominent British figures; he was related to Stanley Baldwin, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, being his nephew. Additionally, he was connected to Sir Aurelian Ridsdale, a Liberal Member of Parliament. Ridsdale was educated at Tonbridge School and subsequently attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Military Service and Interests:

Following his education, Ridsdale was commissioned into the Royal Norfolk Regiment as an officer. During World War II, he studied Japanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and served as a military intelligence officer with a specialization in Japan, achieving the rank of Major before the war concluded.

Post-War Activities:

After the war, Ridsdale managed a fruit farm in Sussex. In 1942, he married Victoire Evelyn Patricia "Paddy" Bennett, who was then serving as secretary to the novelist Ian Fleming. She is reportedly considered to have been a model for the character "Miss Moneypenny" in the James Bond series. Victoire Ridsdale was active in political circles, serving as her husband's secretary, and she was chairwoman of the Conservative MPs' wives. She was awarded the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) honor in 1991.

Electoral History:

In the 1951 snap general election, Ridsdale ran as the Conservative candidate in Paddington North, London, but was defeated by the incumbent Labour MP William Field. In 1954, the sitting National Liberal MP for Harwich, Sir Stanley Holmes, was elevated to the peerage as Baron Dovercourt, resulting in a by-election. Ridsdale was selected as a candidate representing a combined Conservative and Liberal affiliation and won the seat on 11 February 1954, defeating Labour's Shirley Catlin, who later became Shirley Williams. Ridsdale maintained his seat through ten subsequent general elections: 1955, 1959, 1964, 1966, 1970, February 1974, October 1974, 1979, 1983, and 1987. He chose not to stand in the 1992 general election and was succeeded by Iain Sproat, also of the Conservative Party.

Parliamentary Career:

Ridsdale's parliamentary service included support for Prime Minister Anthony Eden during the 1956 Suez Crisis. He served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to John Profumo, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, from 1957 to 1958, and then as PPS to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 1958 to 1960. He held the position of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Air from 1962 to 1964. As a backbencher, Ridsdale maintained conventional right-wing conservative positions, opposing increased taxation and supporting capital punishment.

In 1968, he expressed support for Enoch Powell following Powell's anti-immigration "Rivers of Blood" speech, describing Powell as "the Winston Churchill of today." Ridsdale retained his interest in Japan, focusing on improving relations and trade, leading the British Japanese Parliamentary Group from 1964 to 1992 and heading numerous parliamentary delegations to Japan. He also served as a member of the North Atlantic Assembly from 1979 to 1992. Ridsdale was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1977 and was knighted in 1981.

References:

Obituary: Sir Julian Ridsdale, The Daily Telegraph. The Papers of Sir Julian Ridsdale are held at the Churchill Archives Centre, University of Cambridge. Coverage of his funeral and memorials have appeared in various news outlets.

External Links:

Hansard 1803–2005 records contributions made by Julian Ridsdale in Parliament.