Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh

The Right Honourable The Lord Hesketh KBE PC
Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms
In office 22 May 1991 – 16 September 1993
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	Lord Denham
Succeeded by	Viscount Ullswater
Personal details
Born	Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hesketh (1950-10-28) 28 October 1950
Political party	UKIP
Other political affiliations	Conservative (until 2011)
Spouse(s)	Hon Claire Watson
Religion	Roman Catholic

Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh, KBE, PC (born 28 October 1950), is a British UK Independence Party politician. He first came to notice as the owner of Hesketh Racing, a car racing team which competed at various levels between 1972 and 1978. After the team folded, he tried to set up a British motorcycle business, Hesketh Motorcycles, which failed. He has been involved not very successfully in other business ventures. In 2006, he sold the family seat, Easton Neston, at Towcester, Northamptonshire—the only surviving complete house by the English baroque architect Nicholas Hawksmoor—together with the estate, the furnishings of the house and family portraits.

Early life

Insignia of Baronet

Hesketh succeeded in the barony (and baronetcy) on 6 October 1955, aged four, when his father, Frederick Fermor-Hesketh, 2nd Baron Hesketh, died aged 39.

He was educated at Ampleforth College, Yorkshire. He went on to work for Dean Witter Inc in San Francisco before returning to manage his family's businesses.

Family

Hesketh married Hon. Claire Georgina Watson, daughter of Joseph Rupert Eric Robert Watson, 3rd Baron Manton and Mary Elizabeth Hallinan, on 21 May 1977 and has three children:

• Hon. Flora Mary Fermor-Hesketh (born 1981)
• Hon. Sophia Christian Fermor-Hesketh (born 1984)
• Hon. Frederick Hatton Fermor-Hesketh (born 13 October 1988)

Lord Hesketh's children use the surname Hesketh day-to-day.

Political career

Hesketh 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, Hesketh 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, whom 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 16 September 1993. During his period in office as Chief Whip he helped secure the Local Government Finance Act 1992, which introduced council taxes, and the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993, which ratified the Maastricht Treaty.

In 2003, he became Treasurer of the Conservative Party, resigning in 2006 due to his own financial difficulties, and was formerly a board member of The Conservative Party Foundation.

On 10 October 2011, Lord Hesketh defected to the UK Independence Party, in response to Prime Minister David Cameron ruling out a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union. During the years 2011/12 Lord Hesketh donated approximately £31,000 to the UK Independence Party

Business

Known for his love of motor racing, Lord Hesketh 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.

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 Hesketh 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. He now serves as an "independent director" of Air Astana, the national carrier of Kazakhstan.

Hesketh joined the board of Babcock International Group on 6 October 1993, becoming non-executive Deputy chairman on 26 April 1996. He was forced to resign in November 2010 after a comment regarding the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, in which he was reported as saying the project would make the country a "laughing stock".

Honours

In 1997, Hesketh was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). Hesketh was portrayed by British actor Christian McKay in the 2013 biographical drama Rush.

Ancestry

Family of Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh

16. Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 5th Baronet               8. Sir Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh, 7th Baronet                       17. Lady Anna Maria Isabella Fermor (daughter of Thomas Fermor, 4th Earl of Pomfret)               4. Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 1st Baron Hesketh                             18. William Sharon, U.S. Senator from Nevada               9. Florence Emily Sharon                       19. Maria Malloy               2. Frederick Fermor-Hesketh, 2nd Baron Hesketh                                   20. General John C. Breckinridge, 14th Vice President of the United States               10. John Witherspoon Breckinridge                       21. Mary Cyrene Burch               5. Florence Louise Breckinridge                             22.               11.                       23.               1. Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh                                         24.               12. Robert Finnie McEwen, of Marchmont and Bardrochat                       25.               6. Sir John McEwen, 1st Baronet                             26. R.H.D. Dundas               13. Mary Frances Dundas                       27.               3. Christian Mary McEwen                                   28. Nathaniel Lindley, Baron Lindley               14. Sir Francis Oswald Lindley                       29. Sarah Katharine Teale               7. Brigid Mary Lindley                             30. Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat               15. Etheldreda Mary Fraser                       31. Alice Mary Weld-Blundell

See also

• Hesketh Motorcycles

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord Hesketh
• Photo of Lord Hesketh
• Debrett's People of Today

Political offices
Preceded by The Lord Denham	Chief Whip in the House of Lords Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms 1991–1993	Succeeded by The Viscount Ullswater
Party political offices
Preceded by The Lord Denham	Conservative Chief Whip in the House of Lords 1991–1993	Succeeded by The Viscount Ullswater
Sporting positions
Preceded by Innes Ireland	President of the British Racing Drivers' Club 1993–2000	Succeeded by Ken Tyrrell
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Frederick Fermor-Hesketh	Baron Hesketh 1955–present	Incumbent