John Nott

At a glance

Born 1932-02-01; died 2024-11-06.

Known as: politician, autobiographer, historian, and farmer. Citizenship: United Kingdom.

Listed as: human.

Who they were

Personal life In 1959 Nott married Miloska Sekol , whom he met at the University of Cambridge . [ 1 ] They had two sons (including the film composer Julian Nott ) and a daughter, Sasha (wife of Hugo, Baron Swire ). [ 2 ] [ 3 ] He was a supporter of Brexit . [ 4 ] In 2016 he had criticised the "poisoned EU debate" in the Conservative Party and suspended his party membership until there was a change of leadership. [ 5 ]

Sir John William Frederic Nott was a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1981 to 1983. A member of the National Liberal and Conservative parties, Nott served as Member of Parliament (MP) for St Ives from 1966 to 1983.

Early life

Educated at: Trinity College and Bradfield College.

Early life Nott was born in Bromley , south-east London (part of Kent until 1965), to Richard Nott, a rice broker from a military family, and Phyllis Francis, [ 1 ] and was educated at Bradfield College . In 1952 he was commissioned as a regular officer in the 2nd Gurkha Rifles , serving in the Malayan Emergency after a period of service with the Royal Scots . In 1956 he left the army to study law and economics at Trinity College, Cambridge , where he was president of the Cambridge Union Society .

Path and career

Awards / honours: Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.

Career Early parliamentary career In 1966 Nott was elected as a National Liberal and Conservative MP for the Cornwall constituency of St Ives , the last person elected under the National Liberal label. The party was formally absorbed into the Conservatives in 1968, after which Nott sat as a Conservative MP. He was the last surviving former National Liberal MP. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] In 1968 he was one of the few MPs to vote against the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 ,

Why this date

John Nott appears on our November 6 calendar for 2024 as a death entry.