Lord Carrington, last member of Churchill govt, dies
LONDON: Former British foreign secretary Lord Peter Carrington, the last surviving member of Winston Churchill’s post-war government, has died at the age of 99, Downing Street said yesterday.
Carrington served under Churchill in his 1951 to 1955 government.
He resigned from prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1982 over Argentina’s invasion of the Falkland Islands.
Born Peter Carington, he sat in Parliament’s upper House of Lords as Baron Carrington of Upton, with a different spelling of his surname.
Downing Street described his death as “very sad news”.
Carrington was Britain’s foreign secretary from 1979 to 1982 when Argentine forces invaded the Falklands.
He took responsibility for the loss of the South Atlantic archipelago on his watch, though few thought him personally to blame. Thatcher tried to dissuade him from stepping down.
Carrington was the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation general secretary from 1984 to 1988.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s effective deputy David Lidington paid tribute to his lengthy and distinguished career.
“Very sorry to learn of the death of my constituent Lord Carrington, former defence and foreign secretary and last surviving member of Churchill’s postwar govt,” he said on Twitter.
“His career was given to public service. My deep sympathy to his family.”