Nicholas Bonsor

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = Sir Nicholas Bonsor

| honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|Bt|DL|size=100%}}

| image =

| office = Minister of State for Foreign Affairs

| term_start = 5 July 1995

| term_end = 5 May 1997

| predecessor = Douglas Hogg

| successor = Tony Lloyd

| parliament1 = United Kingdom

| constituency_MP1 = Upminster

| term_start1 = 9 June 1983

| term_end1 = 8 April 1997

| predecessor1 = John Loveridge

| successor1 = Keith Darvill

| constituency_MP2 = Nantwich

| term_start2 = 3 May 1979

| term_end2 = 13 May 1983

| predecessor2 = John Cockroft

| successor2 = Constituency abolished

| birth_date = {{birth date|1942|12|9|df=yes}}

| birth_place = London, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|3|21|1942|12|9|df=yes}}

| death_place =

| restingplace =

| birthname =

| nationality = British

| party = Conservative

| otherparty =

| spouse =

| relations =

| children =

| residence = Soulbury, Buckinghamshire

| alma_mater = {{ubl|Eton College|Keble College, Oxford}}

| religion =

| primeminister = John Major

}}

Sir Nicholas Cosmo Bonsor, 4th Baronet, {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|DL}} (9 December 1942 – 21 March 2023) was a British Conservative politician.

Early life

Bonsor was educated at Eton College and Keble College, Oxford.

Political career

Having unsuccessfully fought Newcastle-under-Lyme in both February and October 1974 elections, Bonsor was Member of Parliament for Nantwich from 1979 to 1983, then for Upminster from 1983 until he lost the seat to Labour's Keith Darvill in 1997. He was Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1997 and practised as a barrister in London.

In 1994, just before he became a minister, Bonsor had challenged the incumbent Sir Marcus Fox for the chairmanship of the influential 1922 Committee, and narrowly lost by 129 votes to 116.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/mar/19/guardianobituaries.conservatives |title=Sir Marcus Fox |website=www.theguardian.com |date= 19 March 2002|access-date=29 October 2019}} Bonsor, a Eurosceptic, had previously rebelled against the government by voting several times against the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty in the 1992-93 parliamentary session.{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/no-10-stands-by-clarkes-accuser-1364877.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/no-10-stands-by-clarkes-accuser-1364877.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=No 10 stands by Clarke's accuser |website=www.independent.co.uk |date= 24 September 1996|access-date=29 October 2019}}

Post-Parliamentary career

Bonsor lived at Liscombe Park near Soulbury in Buckinghamshire and was a Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.

Bonsor pledged support, by appearing together in a public meeting, to Nigel Farage MEP in his 2010 general election campaign for the Buckingham constituency, standing against the speaker of the House (standing for re-election), John Bercow.

Bonsor was a vice-president of the Standing Council of the Baronetage.{{cite web|title=Standing Council of the Baronetage|url=http://www.baronetage.org/}}

Personal life and death

Sir Nicholas Bonsor was the elder son of Sir Bryan Bonsor (1916–1977) and his wife Elizabeth Hambro (1920–1995). In 1969, he married Hon. Nadine Marisa Lampson, now the Hon. Lady Bonsor, a daughter of Graham Curtis Lampson, 2nd Baron Killearn. They had five children, including Sir Alexander Cosmo Walrond Bonsor (b. 1976) and entrepreneur Mary Bonsor (b. 1987).

Bonsor died on 21 March 2023, at the age of 80.{{cite news |title=Sir Nicholas Bonsor, Right-wing Eurosceptic MP who served under John Major – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2023/03/30/sir-nicholas-bonsor-eurosceptic-mp-death-obituary/ |access-date=30 March 2023 |publisher=The Telegraph |date=30 March 2023}} His eldest son Alexander succeeded to the baronetcy as the 5th Baronet.

Notes

References

Times Guide to the House of Commons, Times Newspapers Limited, 1997
Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, {{Page needed |date=February 2013}}