Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh, KBE, PC (born 28 October, 1950), is a British Conservative politician. For most of his life, he has preferred to be addressed by his middle name. In 2006, he sold the family seat Easton Neston, at Towcester, Northamptonshire, attributed to the English baroque architect, Nicholas Hawksmoor, with the estate.

Early life

Alexander succeeded to the titles of 3rd Baron Hesketh, of Hesketh, in the County Palatine of Lancaster and also to the title of 10th Baronet Hesketh, of Rufford, co. Lancaster on 6 October 1955 when his father, Major Sir Frederick Hesketh, died at the age of thirty nine. Alexander was then aged four. He was educated at Ampleforth College, Yorkshire, England. He went on to work for Dean Witter Inc in San Francisco, before returning to manage his family’s businesses.

Family

He married Hon. Claire Georgina Watson, daughter of Joseph Rupert Eric Robert Watson, 3rd Baron Manton and Mary Elizabeth Hallinan, on 21-05-1977 and has three children, Hon. Flora Mary Fermor-Hesketh (born 1981), Hon. Sophia Christian Fermor-Hesketh (born 1984) and the Hon. Frederick Hatton Fermor-Hesketh (born 13-10-1988). The children use the surname Hesketh day-to-day.

Political career

Alexander automatically became a member of the House of Lords but took no active part in politics until he met Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher after the Irish Republican Army’s bomb attack on her in Brighton on 12 October 1984. Thatcher visited Easton Neston and in conversation, Alexander explained that he did not occupy his seat in the House of Lords. He later explained Mrs. Thatcher asked me if I served on a regular basis in the House, and when I told her no, she said, 'You must. It's your duty, and I expect you to be there. From that point Hesketh worked under Thatcher, who he described as the most outstanding person I ever worked with and held the office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment between 1989 and 1990 and was Minister of State in the Department of Trade and Industry between 1990 and 1991. On 22 May of that year, he became Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms (Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords), under the next Prime Minister John Major a position he kept until the 16 September, 1993. During his period in office as Chief Whip he helped secure the Council Tax Bill (1992) and the Maastricht Bill (1993). In 2003 he became Treasurer of the Conservative Party. He is chairman of The Conservative Party Foundation.

Business

Known for his love of motor racing, he founded Hesketh Racing in 1972, best known for competing in Formula One from 1973 to 1978. The team was famous for its flamboyant and patriotic approach to the sport and for refusing sponsorship. Between 1973 and 1975 the team had some success with the English driver James Hunt, including winning the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix. He later was president of the British Racing Drivers' Club from 1993 to 2000.

Lord Hesketh formed Hesketh Motorcycles plc. In 1982 a modern purpose built factory was set up to manufacture the Hesketh V1000 motorcycles in Daventry. However, there were numerous problems. The bikes were heavy, made worse by a high riding style; and unreliable, with numerous manufacturing problems adding to an overheating rear cylinder due to lack of air flow. The resultant bad press combined on top of an under-developed bike, lack of cash and a collapsing market meant that after the production of 139 bikes, the company went into receivership. The Triumph Motorcycles co-operative looked at buying the rights to the machine, as they lacked a new model beyond the aged Triumph Bonneville. A V1000 machine even appeared with a Triumph badge on its tank, but Triumph also lacked funding to buy and develop the machine. In 1983, Lord Hesketh formed a new company called Hesleydon Ltd to manufacture a revamped V1000 with a full fairing, called the Vampire. However, although the company had produced a motorcycle with export potential in mind, the Vampire retained too many of the V1000's faults and only 40 were produced before the company closed again in 1984.

In 1994 he helped set up British Mediterranean Airways, later known as BMED. He also became chairman of the new airline. A role in which he continued until early 2007 when BMED was purchased for £30 Million by UK Airline BMI

Honours

In 1997, he was invested as a Knight Commander of the British Empire.

Succession

See also

• Hesketh Motorcycles

External links

• Photo of Lord Hesketh

References