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{{short description|British Conservative politician}}
{{other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]] Sir
| honorific-suffix = {{postnom|country=GBR|size=100|KCB}}
| image = John Nott.jpg
| caption = Nott in 1982
| office = [[Secretary of State for Defence]]
| primeminister = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| term_start = 5 January 1981
| term_end = 6 January 1983
| predecessor = [[Francis Pym]]
| successor = [[Michael Heseltine]]
| office2 = {{ubl|[[Secretary of State for Trade]]|[[President of the Board of Trade]]}}
| primeminister2 = Margaret Thatcher
| term_start2 = 4 May 1979
| term_end2 = 5 January 1981
| predecessor2 = [[John Smith (Labour Party leader)|John Smith]]
| successor2 = [[John Biffen]]
| office3 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br>for [[St Ives (UK Parliament constituency)|St Ives]]
| term_start3 = 31 March 1966
| term_end3 = 13 May 1983
| predecessor3 = [[Greville Howard (St Ives MP)|Greville Howard]]
| successor3 = [[David Harris (British politician)|David Harris]]
| birth_name = John William Frederic Nott
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1932|2|1|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Bideford]], England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] (1968–2016)
| otherparty = [[National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)|National Liberal]] (1966–1968)
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Miloska Nott|Miloska Sekol]]|1959}}<ref name=papers/>
| children = 3, including {{enum|[[Julian Nott|Julian]] | [[Sasha Swire|Sasha]]}}
| education = [[Bradfield College]]
| alma_mater = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]

| branch = {{army|UK}}
| serviceyears = 1952–1956
| rank = [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|Lieutenant]]
| unit = [[2nd Gurkha Rifles]]
}}
'''Sir John William Frederic Nott''' {{postnom|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB}}<ref name="papers">{{cite web|title=The Papers of Sir John Nott|url=https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1744|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=December 2004|access-date=|website=Archivesearch, Churchill Archives Centre}}</ref> (born 1 February 1932)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mr John Nott (Hansard)|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/mr-john-nott/index.html|access-date=2021-05-10|website=api.parliament.uk}}</ref> is a former British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician. He was a senior politician of the late 1970s and early 1980s, playing a prominent role as [[Secretary of State for Defence]] during the [[1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands]] and subsequent [[Falklands War]].

==Early life==
Born in [[Bideford]], [[Devon]], the son of Richard Nott and Phyllis (née Francis), Nott was educated at [[Bradfield College]] and was commissioned as a regular officer in the [[2nd Gurkha Rifles]] (1952–1956).<ref name=papers/> He served in the [[Malayan Emergency]] after a period of service with the [[Royal Scots]]. He left to study law and economics at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], where he was President of the [[Cambridge Union Society]].<ref name=papers/> He was called to the Bar at the [[Inner Temple]] in 1959.<ref name=papers/>

==Member of Parliament==
{{BLP sources section|date=November 2020}}
Nott served as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for the [[Cornwall]] constituency of [[St Ives (UK Parliament constituency)|St Ives]] from 1966 to 1983.<ref name=papers/> He was the last person to commence his parliamentary career under the nearly obsolete [[National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)|National Liberal]] label. The National Liberals were formally absorbed by the Conservatives in 1968, after which Nott sat as a Conservative MP. {{As of|2022}}, he is the last surviving former National Liberal MP.

In 1968, he was one of the few MPs to vote against the [[Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968]], thinking it "disgraceful that people who had British passports should have them taken away".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lattimer |first1=Mark |title=When Labour played the racist card |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/when-labour-played-racist-card |website=New Statesman |access-date=14 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905192357/https://www.newstatesman.com/when-labour-played-racist-card |archive-date=5 Sep 2015 |date=22 January 1999 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}</ref>

===In government===
Nott served in the early-1970s [[Heath government]] as [[Minister of State (UK)|Minister of State]] at [[HM Treasury|the Treasury]].<ref name=papers/> He joined the [[Shadow Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher|Shadow Cabinet]] in 1976 and the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] when Margaret Thatcher won the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]]. With this appointment to the cabinet, he was made a [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Councillor]].<ref name="papers" /> He served first as [[Secretary of State for Trade]], which incorporated the [[Department of Prices and Consumer Protection]]. Nott was responsible for repealing the [[prices and incomes policy]] and played a leading role in the abolition of [[Exchange Control]]. The [[Department of Trade]] also covered responsibility for Shipping and Aviation and the [[privatisation]] of [[British Airways]], the first privatisation of the Thatcher Government. He was moved to Defence in the reshuffle of January 1981.

He was widely criticised by Royal Navy chiefs over the [[1981 Defence White Paper]] for his decision to cut back on forward government naval expenditure during the severe [[Early 1980s recession|economic recession of the early 1980s]]; the reductions originally included the proposed scrapping of the Antarctic patrol ship {{HMS|Endurance|1967|6}} and the reduction of the Surface Fleet to 50 frigates and from three to two aircraft carriers. He switched the resultant savings into [[nuclear submarine]]s, [[naval weapon]] systems and [[air defence]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}

In his White Paper Command 8758 "The Falkland Campaign: The Lessons" he announced a major re-building programme costing around one billion pounds replacing all the ships, Harrier aircraft and helicopters lost during the Falklands War, including the building of five new [[Type 22 frigates]], making the largest naval building programme in many years. He also closed [[Chatham Dockyard]] and ended the mid-life modernisation of old frigates. He took through Parliament the upgrading of the [[nuclear deterrent]] to the current [[Trident system]] (D5).

===Resignation and retirement===
Nott offered his resignation as Defence Secretary to Thatcher following the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands in March 1982. Unlike then Foreign Secretary [[Lord Carrington]], however, the resignation was not accepted. Nott remained [[Secretary of State for Defence]] throughout the four-month conflict. He was eventually replaced by [[Michael Heseltine]] in January 1983 after Nott decided not to seek re-election at the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|next General Election]]. In 1983 he was knighted, as a Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Bath]].<ref name="papers" />

Nott, [[John Major]] and [[Malcolm Rifkind]] are the only surviving members of Thatcher's cabinet who do not currently sit in either house of Parliament.

In 1985, he became chairman and chief executive of the banking firm [[Lazard Brothers]], retiring in 1989.<ref name="Cohan2008">{{cite book|last=Cohan |first=William D. |title=The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co.|url={{GBurl|id=8jT0_Wn-HGcC}} |url-access=limited|date=3 April 2008|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-0-14-191683-5}}</ref> During his chairmanship [[Westland affair|a cabinet crisis]] took place on the future of [[Westland Helicopters]] which severely rocked the Thatcher government. Lazard Brothers acted for Westland against the Heseltine proposal for a European consortium. Among other well-publicised events was the takeover of Guinness. He was chairman of [[Hillsdown Holdings]], a multi-national food company, the Canadian firm [[Maple Leaf Foods]], deputy chairman of [[Royal Insurance]]. He was an adviser to APAX Partners and [[Freshfields]].

Nott is a supporter of [[Brexit]], the move to leave the European Union.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Evans |first1=Albert |title=Boris Johnson backer claims candidate wants a no-deal Brexit |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-brexit-negotiations-no-deal-tory-leadership-contest-john-nott-sky-news-305710 |access-date=14 November 2020 |website=inews.co.uk |date=24 June 2019}}</ref> In 2016, Nott criticised the "poisoned [[Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom|EU debate]]" in the Conservative Party, and suspended his party membership until there was a change of leadership.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dominiczak |first1=Peter |title=Margaret Thatcher's defence secretary Sir John Nott suspends Tory membership because of 'poisonous' EU campaign |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/08/margaret-thatchers-defence-secretary-sir-john-nott-suspends-tory/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=14 November 2020 |work=The Telegraph |date=8 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608222812/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/08/margaret-thatchers-defence-secretary-sir-john-nott-suspends-tory/ |archive-date=8 Jun 2016}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Nott met his future wife [[Miloska Nott|Miloska]], a [[Slovenes|Slovene]], at the [[University of Cambridge]]. Lady Nott was awarded an OBE in 2012 for her humanitarian work.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cornwalllive.com/lady-nott-s-obe-charity-work/story-17391117-detail/story.html|title=OBE for Bosnian aid worker Lady Miloska|date=2012-11-29|work=Cornwall Live|access-date=2016-12-08}}{{dead|date=November 2020}}</ref> Their son, [[Julian Nott]], is a [[film composer]], screenwriter and director, most famous for writing the scores for the ''[[Wallace and Gromit]]'' and ''[[Peppa Pig]]'' animated short films. Their other son, William, works for an international oil company in London. Their daughter, [[Sasha Swire|Sasha]], is a journalist married to the former MP for [[East Devon (UK Parliament constituency)|East Devon]], [[Hugo Swire|Hugo Swire, Baron Swire]], and published controversial diaries about life as a parliamentarian's wife in the early 21st century.<ref>{{cite interview |last1=Aitkenhead |first1=Decca |title=Sasha Swire on the Camerons, Boris and her sensational secret diaries |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sasha-swire-david-cameron-boris-johnson-secret-diaries-5kkmkb52x |url-access=subscription |access-date=19 September 2020 |work=The Times |date=12 September 2020}}</ref> He lives on his farm at [[St Erth]] in Cornwall.

===Books===
The title of Nott's autobiography ''[[#{{SfnRef|Nott|2002}}|Here Today, Gone Tomorrow]]'' is a reference to an interview conducted by [[Sir Robin Day]] in October 1982. Day described Nott, who had already announced or was shortly to announce that he would not stand at the next election, as "a transient, here-today and, if I may say so, gone-tomorrow politician." He asked whether the public should believe the MP's statements on defence cuts. Nott promptly stood up calling the interview "ridiculous", removed his microphone and walked off the set.<ref>{{cite interview |subject = John Nott |interviewer = [[Robin Day]] |title = Walks out of interview |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln3SpXXYTHY |location = Brighton |date = October 1982 |work = [[Newsnight]] |access-date = 16 June 2011 |via = YouTube }}</ref>

Nott's second book, ''[[#{{SfnRef|Nott|2004}}|Mr Wonderful Takes a Cruise]]'', was published in 2004.

In 2007, he published a family history entitled ''[[#{{SfnRef|Nott|2007}}|Haven't We Been Here Before]]''.

In 2012, wrote the introduction to [[Stephen Tyrrell]]'s ''Trewinnard – A Cornish History'' about his home in Cornwall.

Nott's fourth book, ''[[#{{SfnRef|Nott|2014}}|Mr Wonderful Seeks Immortality]]'', was published in 2014.

==In the media==
Nott was interviewed about the rise of [[Thatcherism]] for the 2006 BBC TV documentary series ''[[Tory! Tory! Tory!]]''.<ref>{{IMDb title|0907294|Tory! Tory! Tory!}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Nott was portrayed by [[Clive Merrison]] in the 2002 BBC production of [[Ian Curteis]]'s controversial ''[[The Falklands Play]]''.<ref>{{IMDb title|0315579|The Falklands Play}}</ref>
In the film ''[[The Iron Lady (film)|The Iron Lady]]'', Nott is played by [[Angus Wright (actor)|Angus Wright]].<ref>{{BFI Explore|4f4bb54a06139|The Iron Lady}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Rejoice (Margaret Thatcher)|"Rejoice"]], a 1982 remark made by Margaret Thatcher following a statement read by Nott

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book
| author = Nott
| title = Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Recollections of an Errant Politician
| url = {{GBurl|id=Asp5AAAAIAAJ}}
| url-access = limited
| year = 2002
| publisher = Politico's
| isbn = 978-1-84275-030-8
}}
* {{cite book
| author = Nott
| title = Mr Wonderful Takes a Cruise: The Adventures of an Old Age Pensioner
| year = 2004
| publisher = Ebury
| isbn = 978-0-09-189834-2
}}
* {{cite book
| author = Nott
| title = Haven't We Been Here Before
| date = March 2007
| publisher = Discovered Authors
| isbn = 978-1-905108-49-7
}}
* {{cite book
| author = Nott
| title = Mr Wonderful Seeks Immortality
| url = {{GBurl|id=OjxLDwAAQBAJ}}
| url-access = limited
| date = 26 March 2014
| publisher = SilverWood Books
| isbn = 978-1-78132-198-0
}}
* {{cite book
| title = Who's Who in European Institutions and Organizations
| page = 561
| postscript = , col. 1.
}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{NPG name}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-john-nott | John Nott }}
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk_politics/04/thatchers_government/html/nott.stm Thatcher's First Cabinet]

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{{S-bef|before=[[Greville Howard (St Ives MP)|Greville Howard]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for [[St Ives (UK Parliament constituency)|St Ives]]|years=[[1966 United Kingdom general election|1966]]–[[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]]}}
{{S-aft|after=[[David Harris (British politician)|David Harris]]}}
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{{S-bef|before=[[John Smith (Labour Party leader)|John Smith]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Secretary of State for Trade]]|years=1979–1981}}
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{{S-bef|before=[[Francis Pym]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Secretary of State for Defence]]|years=1981–1983}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Michael Heseltine]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Secretary of State for Defence}}
{{Presidents of the Board of Trade}}
{{Thatcher Ministry}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nott, John}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Politicians from Bideford]]
[[Category:People educated at Bradfield College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Cambridge Union]]
[[Category:Royal Gurkha Rifles officers]]
[[Category:British people of the Falklands War]]
[[Category:British Secretaries of State]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:English autobiographers]]
[[Category:English historians]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for St Ives]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Secretaries of State for Defence (UK)]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1966–1970]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1970–1974]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1974]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1974–1979]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1979–1983]]
[[Category:Nott family|John]]
[[Category:People from St Erth]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Board of Trade]]
[[Category:Royal Scots officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Malayan Emergency]]

John Nott - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 12:40, 14 August 2023