Product Code Database
Sir John William Frederic Nott (1 February 1932 – 6 November 2024) was a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1981 to 1983 (during the Falklands War). A member of the National Liberal (until 1968) and Conservative parties, Nott served as Member of Parliament (MP) for St Ives from 1966 to 1983.
In 1952 he was commissioned as a regular officer in the 2nd Gurkha Rifles, serving in the Malayan Emergency after a period of service with the Royal Scots. In 1956 he left the army to study law and economics at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was president of the Cambridge Union Society. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1959.
In 1968 he was one of the few MPs to vote against the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968, thinking it "disgraceful that people who had British passports should have them taken away".
In the January 1981 reshuffle, Nott became Secretary of State for Defence. Short-term commitment to cost savings meant that defence decisions were made based on affordability at the expense of naval husbandry since prior to the Argentine invasion of the Falklands in 1982, the government had been unwilling to consider such a strategic risk. Time was of the essence and, by prioritising reduced public spending, the government acknowledged the more immediate risk of national bankruptcy against the less pressing strategic analysis of another war. Nott was widely criticised by Royal Navy chiefs over the 1981 Defence White Paper for his decision to cut back on forward government naval expenditure during the severe economic recession of the early 1980s; the reductions originally included the proposed scrapping of the Antarctic patrol ship and the reduction of the surface fleet to 50 frigates and from three to two aircraft carriers. He switched the resultant savings to nuclear submarines, naval weapon systems and air defence. He famously walked out of an interview with Robin Day during the 1982 Conservative Party conference after Day referred to him as a "here today, gone tomorrow politician", although he retained a sense of humour about the incident, later naming his memoir Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.
In his white paper Command 8758 "The Falkland Campaign: The Lessons", Nott announced a major rebuilding programme costing around £1 billion to replace all the ships, Harrier aircraft and helicopters lost during the Falklands War, including the building of five new Type 22 frigates. He also closed Chatham Dockyard and ended the mid-life modernisation of old frigates. He took through Parliament the upgrading of the nuclear deterrent to the current Trident system (D5).
He was a supporter of Brexit. In 2016 he had criticised the "poisoned EU debate" in the Conservative Party and suspended his party membership until there was a change of leadership.
Nott spent much of his retirement restoring his farm in Cornwall. He died on 6 November 2024, at the age of 92.
At the time of his death, he, John Major and Malcolm Rifkind were the only surviving members of the Thatcher cabinet not sitting in either house of Parliament.
He was portrayed by Clive Merrison in the 2002 BBC production of Ian Curteis's controversial The Falklands Play, and by Angus Wright in the film The Iron Lady.
|-
|-
|
|
