John Wells (politician)

John Julius Wells (born 30 March 1925) was a British Conservative Party politician.

Wells was educated at Eton College and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He served in the RNVR during World War II, as a seaman in 1942, commissioned in 1943 and in submarines until 1946. He was a marine engineer, company director and farmer, and served as a councillor on Leamington Spa Borough Council.

At the 1955 general election, Wells stood unsuccessfully in the Smethwick constituency. At the 1959 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Maidstone, following in the footsteps of a 19th century ancestor. He held the safe Conservative seat until his retirement at the 1987 general election, when his successor was future minister Ann Widdecombe.

Throughout his period as a Member of Parliament Wells was a strong supporter of country interests and the local economy, on one occasion riding his horse through the streets of Westminster and on another loudly eating a Kentish apple during a speech by a Labour Minister of Agriculture, as a protest against the import of cheap, subsidised, and in his opinion inferior imports from France.

In popular culture

Wells was portrayed by Alan Rothwell in the 2002 BBC production of Ian Curteis's controversial "The Falklands Play".

References

*"The Times Guide to the House of Commons", Times Newspapers Ltd, 1955, 1966 & 1983
*rayment