Tributes paid to ‘local champion’ ex-Wrekin MP Warren Hawksley
Warren Hawksley, the Wrekin MP who entered Parliament as Margaret Thatcher swept to power in the 1979 General Election, has died at the age of 75 following a short illness.
Mr Hawksley was renowned as an unashamed right wing Tory who supported capital punishment, wanted to see the birch brought back for young offenders, and considered Nelson Mandela a terrorist.
In the late 1970s he called for a complete ban on immigration for five years to allow "the problems in this country to be sorted out."
Unsurprisingly he rarely saw eye-to-eye with the Labour-run Wrekin District Council of the day.
In those days the Wrekin seat included all of Telford and during Mr Hawksley's time there were key developments for the new town including the opening of the M54, the designation of Telford Enterprise Zone, a major expansion of the town's shopping centre, and the official go-ahead for Telford's hospital.
However his electoral grip on the marginal seat was never secure and after holding it in 1983 with a majority of 1,331 - it was widely predicted he would lose as a result of boundary changes - he was ousted by Labour's Bruce Grocott in the 1987 general election.
Later he went on to become MP for Halesowen and Stourbridge from 1992-1997.
An arch Eurosceptic, he was a Maastricht Rebel, and one of only a small number of Tories not to have voted for any part of the treaty.
After defeat in 1987 imposed an enforced break on his Parliamentary career he and his then second wife Evelyn - Mr Hawksley was thrice-married - built up the Edderton Hall Hotel and restaurant at Forden, near Welshpool, buying the derelict building and turning it into a two AA rosette establishment.
On its sale in 1997 he looked for a new career in charity fundraising, and became a director at the Staffordshire-based substance abuse charity Re-Solv in 1998.
Current Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard said: "Warren was a Shropshire and West Midlands man through and through. From Shrewsbury to Stourbridge to representing the Wrekin he was always championing the county and region with passion and commitment. My deepest condolences to his family and very many friends."
Andrew Eade, leader of the Conservatives on Telford & Wrekin Council, said he was deeply saddened by the news.
"Warren was an extremely good constituency MP. He always put his constituents first, far ahead of events in Westminster.
"He was always available for local people and took on their concerns with great enthusiasm.
"He was a very easy person to get on with and always kept in touch with local events, local councillors, and took up issues on their behalf.
"He really was a great guy and I am very sad he has passed away."
Mr Eade said the former MP had played a key role in securing the Princess Royal Hospital for the borough and the M54 link.
And Stone's Tory MP Sir Bill Cash, who lives in Shropshire, said: "I was very friendly with Warren. He was a great Eurosceptic, and I will always remember how he successfully fought what was at the time the very marginal swing seat of Wrekin, against all the odds.
"He will be sadly missed and I pass on my condolences to his wife and family."
Mr Hawksley served as a councillor on the old Salop County Council and his early Parliamentary ambitions were crushed when he failed to take the marginal Labour seat of Wolverhampton North East in the February and October general elections of 1974.
However by 1979 the tide had turned and he took The Wrekin from Labour's Gerry Fowler with a majority of 965.
In 1983 he and two other Tory MPs pressed unsuccessfully for an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill which would have seen the cane brought back for boys aged between 10 and 13, and the birch for those aged 13 to 18, for certain offences such as mugging and football hooliganism.
Born in Oswestry on March 10, 1943, he was educated at Mill Mead, Shrewsbury, and Denstone College, Uttoxeter, and worked for Lloyds Bank in Shrewsbury before becoming an MP.
During the 1960s and early 1970s he was an active and prominent member of the Young Conservatives in Shropshire, at various dates being chairman of the Much Wenlock, Ludlow, and Wem branches, and holding positions of office in the group in Oswestry and South Worcestershire.
He was deputy chairman of Oswestry Conservatives from 1975 to 1977.
From 1973 to 1977 he was a governor of Wolverhampton Polytechnic and became a member of West Mercia Police Authority in 1976.
Mr Hawksley was often at the centre of controversy, for instance when his membership of the right wing group Tory Action was criticised.
