Marcus Fox

Sir John Marcus Fox MBE (11 June 1927 – 16 March 2002) was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shipley from 1970 to 1997. He was chairman of the 1922 Committee and he directly oversaw candidate selection for the Conservative Party in the 1979 General Election.

Early life

Fox had a twin sister with whom he attended dancing lessons. At these lessons, he met the future Speaker Betty Boothroyd. He attended Wheelwright Grammar School for Boys (now a campus of Kirklees College) on Birkdale Road in Dewsbury.

Fox served in the Green Howards (Duke of Wellington's Regiment) as a Lieutenant, a fact which he was sometimes known to mention in after-dinner speeches. Fox left the Green Howards and began his political career with his election to Dewsbury Council in 1956, staying until 1963. He then became a bank clerk, then sales manager for Woolworths and Terry's in York, and then a company director.

Parliamentary career

He unsuccessfully contested Dewsbury in 1959 and Huddersfield West in 1966, then was elected in 1970. During his time in Parliament, he served as a whip under Edward Heath, and then was a junior minister under Margaret Thatcher. He was moved back to the back-benches in 1981, and started ascending the pole to become chairman of the 1922 committee - becoming vice-chairman in 1983 and chairman in 1994. He received an MBE in 1963, was knighted in 1986, and became a member of the Privy Council in 1996.