Former Conservative MP Peter Fry dies aged 83

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/16/conervative-sir-peter-fry-dies-wellingborough-mp

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Sir Peter Fry, who was the Conservative MP for Wellingborough for 28 years, has died at the age of 83.

He won the seat in a byelection in 1969 and held it until he lost by 187 votes in the 1997 general election, during which he had a heart attack. Fry blamed his defeat on Ukip polling 1,192 votes.

Peter Bone, the current Conservative MP for Wellingborough and Rushden, said that Fry was still highly regarded by voters as he campaigned in May’s general election. This was despite Fry having been out of the political spotlight for some time and being ill for the past year.

“He was extremely well thought of,” Bone said. “When I was canvassing in the last election people were still talking about him. They absolutely loved how he helped them and he was a highly regarded local MP.

“He stood up for what was right rather than what the party line was. In those days [the John Major years] it was much more difficult to stand up against the party machine. He had strong views on Europe.”

Fry, who became known as a transport expert, had started his working life as an insurance broker and in the family retail business. He joined the Wycombe Young Conservatives in 1949 and the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1951, before becoming a Tory councillor on Buckinghamshire county council between 1961 and 1967.

He took on the chairmanship of the Commons’ all-party footwear and leather group, perhaps in light of the dominance of the local industry at the time. He became an imposing figure on the backbenches but spoke little on national issues.

Councillor Barry Graves, the mayor-elect for Wellingborough, described Fry as a strong constituency MP. “I remember going out and canvassing with him and he would go everywhere. He knew the area and the people. He was very much a man of the local constituency.

“He survived through all the vicissitudes because he was able to go out and get the personal vote. He did a lot of work and was just very approachable.”

A knighthood came in 1994 but the end of his life in Westminster politics did not end his activism. Fry chaired the parish council in Cranford where he lived, and helped set up the Stop the Overdevelopment of Northamptonshire pressure group in 2003.

He also became chair of the Bingo Association and chair of the Federation of European Bingo Associations, and a trustee of the Responsibility in Gambling Trust.

His first marriage to Edna Roberts ended in divorce and he married Helen Mitchell in 1982.