Constituency : North Cornwall 1966-79
John made it three MPs in the South West by recovering North Cornwall from the Tories.
John was educated at Sherburne School and Cambridge where he was active in the Footlights Revue alongside Jonathan Miller. In 1959 he worked for Labour's campaign but was converted by Jo Grimond's ideas. In 1964, he stood against Margaret Thatcher at Finchley moving the Liberals up from second place. He was a member of Mebyon Kernow as well.
John became the party's economic affairs spokesman. He was respected for his intellect but less so for his robust partisanship. He was Treasurer of the party in the late sixties, President from 1971 to 1972 and Deputy Leader from 1976 to 1979.
John stood for the Liberal leadership in 1976 but was well beaten by David Steel who was criticised for suggesting John wore a toupee. During the Lib-Lab pact he shadowed Dennis Healey and seriously irritated him with his unsolicited advice. In 1978 he played a Liberal PM in a Radio 4 pantomime Black Cinderella Two Goes East.
In 1979, John was defeated, a result usually attributed to the Thorpe scandal. John supported Thorpe's campaign whereas the other Liberal MPs shunned him. John himself believes it was due to negative coverage of his leadership campaign.
Following his defeat John had a short spell as a TV presenter before becoming managing director of a successful training company Sight and Sound. He remained active in the party. In 1983 Steel used him to attack Roy Jenkins' leadership of the Alliance campaign at the Ettrick Bridge "summit". John himself managed the 1987 campaign, hamstrung by the difficult relationship between Steel and Owen. He was the only prominent Liberal Owen respected.
John was a good singer and noted for the volume of his voice.
John retired in 1992 . It seems odd that he's not in the House of Lords but perhaps he's declined an offer in the past. He is now 84.
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