Gerald Nabarro

2025-10-23T22:25:29Z

128.194.233.11: /* Personal Life */ added biographical information regarding carideal companionship, as elucidated on the BBC TV on October 27, 1970

{{Short description|British politician (1913–1973)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Sir]]
| name = Gerald Nabarro
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MP}}
| image =Gerald Nabarro in 1962.jpg
| caption=Nabarro in 1962
| constituency_MP1 = [[Kidderminster (UK Parliament constituency)|Kidderminster]]
| predecessor1 = [[Louis Tolley]]
| successor1 = [[Tatton Brinton]]
| term_start1 = 23 February 1950
| term_end1 = 15 October 1964
| constituency_MP2 = [[South Worcestershire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Worcestershire]]
| parliament = United Kingdom
| predecessor2 = [[Peter Agnew]]
| successor2 = [[Michael Spicer (politician)|Michael Spicer]]
| term_start2 = 31 March 1966
| term_end2 = 18 November 1973
| birth_name = Gerald David Nunes Nabarro
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1913|6|29}}
| birth_place = [[Willesden]], England
| death_date ={{Death date and age|df=yes|1973|11|18|1913|6|29}}
| death_place =[[Broadway, Worcestershire]], England
| spouse = {{marriage|Joan Maud Violet im Thurn|1943}}
| children = 4
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| branch = British Army
|serviceyears = 1930–1946
|rank =
|unit = {{Plainlist|
*[[King's Royal Rifle Corps]]
*[[Royal Artillery]]}}
|commands =
|battles = [[Second World War]]
|awards =
}}
'''Sir Gerald David Nunes Nabarro''' (29 June 1913 – 18 November 1973) was a British businessman and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician who was an [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] from 1950 until his death. Nabarro positioned himself on the right of the Conservative Party. Though he never left the [[backbencher|backbenches]], he was a comparatively high-profile political figure, owing in large part to his eccentric personal style.

==Early life==
Nabarro was born in [[Willesden]] Green, Middlesex, the son of Solomon Nunes Nabarro, a retail [[tobacconist]] who went bankrupt in 1921, and his wife Lena (died 1921), née Drucquer.<ref>{{cite ODNB | url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-31484 | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/31484 | date=2004 | last1=Ramsden | first1=John | title=Nabarro, Sir Gerald David Nunes (1913–1973), politician }}</ref> He was born to a prominent [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardi Jewish]] family,<ref name=dnb>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of National Biography, 1971–1980|year=1986|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-865208-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati1971unse}}Editors, Lord Blake and C. S. Nicholls. Article by Timothy O'Sullivan.</ref> but later converted to Christianity.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/religion/Story/0,,200475,00.html ''The Guardian'', Saturday 23 October 1999]</ref> Until age 14, he was educated at [[London County Council]] schools.<ref name=www>{{cite book|title=Who Was Who, 1971–1980|year=1981|publisher=A. and C. Black|page=573}}</ref>

==Career==
Nabarro left school at 14, and ran away from home into the [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|Merchant Navy]]. He later enlisted in the [[British Army]]'s [[King's Royal Rifle Corps]] in 1930, rising to the rank of [[staff sergeant|staff sergeant instructor]]. After some self-education, he was accepted for commissioning as an officer, but believed he had insufficient private means and, having served his time, he was honourably discharged in 1937. He went into the timber-supply industry, where he made his fortune, able to later claim to have served in every grade from labourer to managing director.<ref name=dnb />

He also served in the [[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] from 1937, and at the start of the [[Second World War]], he was commissioned as an officer in the [[Royal Artillery]].<ref name=odnb>{{cite book|title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 40|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=98|isbn=0-19-861390-3}}</ref> During the war, he was seconded for special industrial production processes in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite book|title=Kelly's Handbook, 1951|publisher=Kelly's|page=1524}}</ref> He left full-time military service in favour of industrial employment in 1943,<ref name=odnb /> but remained on the [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Reserve of Officers]] until 1946.<ref name=www />

Nabarro served among many positions outside industry and parliament, including as: a Governor of the [[University of Birmingham]] and Convocation Member at [[Aston University]]; President of the Road Passenger and Transport Association 1951–55; the Merseyside area of the National Union of Manufacturers 1956–62; the London branch of the Institute of Marketing 1968–70; and the British Direct Mail Marketing Association 1968–72.<ref name=www />

Nabarro was also interested in the revival of the [[Severn Valley Railway]]<ref name=odnb /> (which was partly in his former [[Kidderminster (UK Parliament constituency)|Kidderminster]] constituency), and his fascination with the SVR served as the basis of two of his books, ''Severn Valley Steam'' and ''Steam Nostalgia''.<ref name=www /> In early 1972, he persuaded the SVR, of which he became chairman, to allow him to raise the money to buy the line from [[Hampton Loade railway station|Hampton Loade]] to [[Foley Park Halt railway station|Foley Park]] by means of a share issue in a newly created public limited company, Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) Ltd—of which he was also the chairman. Nabarro’s new company then “became responsible for the policy and financial decisions affecting the whole railway, and specifically for financing the purchase of the southern extension from [[Alveley]] to Foley Park.”<ref>{{Cite journal |date=26 October 2020 |title=He got us into Bewdley... but he planned to sell off Bridgnorth station! |url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/heritage-railway/20201026/284936727587618 |journal=Heritage Railway Magazine |issue=273 |access-date=31 August 2024 |via=[[PressReader]]}}</ref> The share issue took place, but after SVR volunteers discovered he planned to sell the [[Bridgnorth railway station]] site for hotel and housing development and bring business friends from outside onto the board, it led to a threatened strike by the railway's volunteer staff, and his proposals were thrown out at a heated annual general meeting (AGM).<ref name=shropstar4>{{cite news|title=Santa and the Abominable Showman|work=Shropshire Star|date=19 March 2015|page=26}}Severn Valley Railway Golden Jubilee Souvenir Supplement. "Abominable Showman" being Nabarro's nickname by opponents.</ref> Nabarro resigned from the board of directors in May 1973.<ref>{{cite book|author=Marshall, John|title=The Severn Valley Railway|year=1989|publisher=David St John Thomas|location=Newton Abbot|page=183|isbn=0-946537-45-3|author-link=John Marshall (railway historian)}}</ref>

==Political career==
At the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 general election]], Nabarro stood as the Conservative candidate in the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]-held [[West Bromwich (UK Parliament constituency)|West Bromwich]] constituency. The seat was comfortably held by Labour's [[John Dugdale (Labour politician)|John Dugdale]], with a swing of 18.6%,<ref name="Craig-1918-1949">{{cite book |last=Craig |first=F. W. S. |author-link= F. W. S. Craig |title=British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 |orig-year=1969 |edition= 3rd |year=1983 |publisher= Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester |isbn= 0-900178-06-X | page=257}}</ref> much higher than the national average of 10%.<ref name="Craig-Electoral-Facts">{{cite book |last=Craig |first=F. W. S. |author-link= F. W. S. Craig |title=British Electoral Facts 1832–1980 |orig-year=1968 |edition= 4th |year=1981 |publisher= Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester |isbn= 0-900178-20-5 | pages=99, 154}}</ref>

In the [[1950 United Kingdom general election|general election of 1950]], Nabarro was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Kidderminster (UK Parliament constituency)|Kidderminster]], [[Worcestershire]], which he held until 1964. He then retired on health grounds.

Given a clean bill of health later, he was selected as Conservative candidate for the safer constituency of [[South Worcestershire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Worcestershire]], neighbouring his old constituency, after the previous MP, Sir [[Peter Agnew]], had retired. He duly won the seat in the [[1966 United Kingdom general election|1966 general election]], and represented it until he died in office in November 1973. No by-election was held after his death; the seat was still vacant when [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] was dissolved on 8 February 1974 for the [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|general election later that month]].<ref name="Craig-Electoral-Facts" />

Through his career, he was the sponsor of various pieces of legislation, claiming credit for the [[Coroners Act 1954]]; the [[Clean Air Act 1956]]; [[Thermal Insulation (Industrial Buildings) Act 1957]]; [[Oil Burners (Standards) Act 1960]];<ref name=www /> and the introduction of government health warnings on cigarette packets in 1971.<ref name=odnb /> He unsuccessfully proposed an amendment to the [[Life Peerages Act 1958|Life Peerages Bill]] in 1958 that would have allowed hereditary peers to renounce their peerages, and seek election to sit in the House of Commons. When [[Tony Benn|Anthony Wedgwood-Benn]], a [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] MP, sought to do that when forced to vacate his seat at the death of his father, [[Viscount Stansgate]], in 1960, Nabarro was his chief Conservative supporter in the Commons, and the two sponsored the [[Peerage Act 1963]]. Subsequently, the act enabled Wedgwood-Benn to re-enter the Commons, and the [[Earl of Home]] to do the same when as [[Alec Douglas-Home|Sir Alec Douglas-Home]] he became Prime Minister in the same year. However, that renunciation was perchance, when an unexpected ill-health change of Prime Minister occurred, as renouncement was only permitted within one year of inheritance of a peerage (or within one year after becoming 21 years of age if inheritance occurred before the age of 21 years), or within one year of the start of the Act, or within one month for an inheritor being a Member of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].<ref name=dnb />

Nabarro was made a [[Knight Bachelor]] for political and public services in the [[1963 New Year Honours|1963 New Years Honours]] list.

==Style==
Nabarro characterised himself as an old-style [[Tory]]: he opposed the [[European Economic Community]] project, as well as drugs, pop music, and pornography, and was critical of students.<ref name=GuardHam>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/dec/27/hamiltonvalfayed.features11 | title=Sir Gerald and the roundabout | date=27 December 1999 | first=John | last=Sutherland | newspaper=The Guardian | access-date=2 May 2018 }}</ref> He was a supporter of [[capital punishment]], and backed [[Enoch Powell]] following the latter's "[[Rivers of Blood speech|Rivers of Blood]]" speech. Even five years earlier, on 5 April 1963, while appearing on ''[[Any Questions?]]'', Nabarro asked, "How would you feel if your daughter wanted to marry a big buck [[nigger]] with the prospect of coffee-coloured grandchildren?"—remarks which were excised from a repeat of the programme the following week.<ref>Donald Thomas, ''Freedom's Frontier: Censorship in Modern Britain''. John Murray, 2007 {{ISBN|071955733X}} (p.317)</ref>

Despite humble beginnings, Nabarro had the style of a conservative [[toff]], sporting a [[Jimmy Edwards]]-style [[handlebar moustache]], a booming [[baritone]] voice, and a [[Terry-Thomas]] accent. He enjoyed driving, and owned the personalised number plates NAB 1 to 8, which he attached to his large garage of cars, including three [[Daimler Company|Daimler]]s. He considered that a Conservative candidate's car should be substantial, but not too substantial, and did not own [[Rolls-Royce (car)|Rolls-Royces]] or [[Bentley]]s.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

==Personal life==
On 1 June 1943, Nabarro married Joan Maud Violet im Thurn, the elder daughter of Colonel Bernhardt Basil von Brumsey im Thurn, [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]], of [[Winchester]], a British Army officer of Austrian ancestry. They had two sons and two daughters. His wife survived him and died in 2009.<ref name=odnb /> He had a pet prawn called Simon. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Monty Python: Fish Licence |url=https://www.ulrikchristensen.dk/scripts/montypython/fishlic.html |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=www.ulrikchristensen.dk}}</ref>

==Later years ==
On the night of 21 May 1971, Nabarro's car, a [[Daimler Sovereign]] bearing the number plate ''NAB 1,''<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Law |first=Peter |date=25 September 2008 |title=Nabarro nabbed for danger driving |url=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/3703027.nabarro-nabbed-for-danger-driving/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240831105351/https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/3703027.nabarro-nabbed-for-danger-driving/ |archive-date=31 August 2024 |access-date=31 August 2024 |work=[[Southern Daily Echo]]}}</ref> was seen to swerve at speed the wrong way round a [[roundabout]] at [[Totton]], [[Hampshire]]. It was occupied by Nabarro and his company secretary, Margaret Mason. The police charged him as the driver, but Nabarro insisted it was his secretary, who agreed with his story. During the trial, Nabarro testified that he had spent the week leading up to the accident attending “a meeting of the women’s advisory committee of the New Forest Conservatives at the Grand Hotel in [[Lyndhurst, Hampshire|Lyndhurst]].”<ref name=":0" /> Nabarro stated that he was exhausted from working long hours at the weeklong conference, and after seeing that her employer needed rest, Mrs. Mason had offered to drive the return journey. Despite Mrs. Mason’s testimony that she had been driving while Nabarro slept, a witness positively identified Nabarro as the driver, and he was found guilty by a jury at [[Winchester]] [[Crown Court]]; the judge pronounced his behaviour "outrageous," and imposed the penalties of a £250 fine and disqualification from driving for two years. He announced his appeal on the court steps immediately afterwards, accompanied by his private secretary, [[Christine Hamilton|Christine Holman]]. Nabarro suffered two [[Stroke|strokes]] in the following year, and was cleared in the delayed second trial, after four new witnesses testified that they had seen a woman driving.<ref name=":0" />

In 1999, ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper speculated that the jury had brought in their verdict to spare Nabarro the horrors of a [[perjury]] trial.<ref name=GuardHam/> In response, his son stated that the other occupant was employed as his driver and not as his secretary. He added that his father suffered from [[diabetes]], and had hardly driven for some years before the dangerous driving allegation at his doctor's orders.<ref>{{cite journal
|journal=The Guardian
|title=Letter to the editor
|date=30 December 1999
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/dec/30/guardianletters5
|access-date=9 June 2019
}}</ref> A few months later, having recently announced a decision to retire from the Commons on grounds of health, he died at his home, [[Orchard Farmhouse]], in [[Broadway, Worcestershire]] on 18 November 1973, aged 60.<ref name=dnb /> He had suffered a [[Intracerebral hemorrhage|cerebral haemorrhage]] the previous week.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/19/archives/sir-gerald-nabarro-dies-at-60-flamboyant-conservative-mp.html|title = Sir Gerald Nabarro Dies at 60; Flamboyant Conservative M.P.|work = [[The New York Times]]|date = 19 November 1973|access-date = 25 January 2021}}</ref>

==Publications==
(Sourced from ''Who's Who'')

*''Portrait of a Politician'' (memoir) – 1970
*''Severn Valley Steam'' – 1971
*''Steam Nostalgia'' – 1972
*''Learners at Large'' – 1973
*''Exploits of a Politician'' (memoir) – 1973

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | sir-gerald-nabarro | Gerald Nabarro }}
* [http://www.private-eye.co.uk/covers.php?showme=187 Nabarro is mocked on the cover of ''Private Eye'']
* [https://www.theguardian.com/hamilton/article/0,2763,195571,00.html Critical article from ''The Guardian'']
* {{NPG name}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Kidderminster (UK Parliament constituency)|Kidderminster]]
| years = [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950]]–[[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964]]
| before = [[Louis Tolley]]
| after = [[Tatton Brinton]]
}}
{{succession box
| title = Member of Parliament for [[South Worcestershire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Worcestershire]]
| years = [[1966 United Kingdom general election|1966]]–1973
| before = [[Sir Peter Agnew, 1st Baronet|Peter Agnew]]
| after = [[Michael Spicer, Baron Spicer|Michael Spicer]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nabarro, Gerald}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:1973 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century British Sephardi Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century British Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century English memoirists]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Converts to Anglicanism from Judaism]]
[[Category:English Anglicans]]
[[Category:Jewish English writers]]
[[Category:Jewish British politicians]]
[[Category:King's Royal Rifle Corps soldiers]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of England for Worcestershire]]
[[Category:People educated at Ealing County Grammar School for Boys]]
[[Category:People from Willesden]]
[[Category:Royal Artillery officers]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1950–1951]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1951–1955]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1955–1959]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1959–1964]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1966–1970]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1970–1974]]
[[Category:English Sephardi Jews]]
[[Category:Military personnel from the London Borough of Brent]]
[[Category:Politicians from the London Borough of Brent]]

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Gerald Nabarro