Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh

 

Hesketh succeeded in the barony (and baronetcy) on 6 October 1955, aged four, when his father, Frederick Fermor-Hesketh, 2nd Baron Hesketh, died aged 39. His mother, Christian Mary McEwen, Dowager Lady Hesketh, served as the High Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1981.^[1]

He was educated at Ampleforth College, Yorkshire.^[2] He went on to work for Dean Witter in San Francisco before returning to manage his family's businesses.^[3]

Hesketh automatically became a member of the House of Lords but took no active part in politics until he met Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher after the Irish Republican Army's bomb attack on her in Brighton on 12 October 1984. Thatcher visited Easton Neston and in conversation, Hesketh explained that he did not occupy his seat in the House of Lords. He later explained, "Mrs Thatcher asked me if I served on a regular basis in the House, and when I told her no, she said, 'You must. It's your duty, and I expect you to be there.'"^[1] From that point Hesketh worked under Thatcher, whom he described as "the most outstanding person I ever worked with"^[4] and held the office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment between 1989 and 1990 and was Minister of State in the Department of Trade and Industry between 1990 and 1991.

On 22 May of that year, he became Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms (Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords) under the next prime minister, John Major, a position he kept until 16 September 1993.^[2] During his period in office as Chief Whip he helped secure the Local Government Finance Act 1992, which introduced council taxes, and the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993,^[5] which ratified the Maastricht Treaty.

Hesketh lost his seat in the House of Lords in 1999, when the House of Lords Act 1999 removed all but 92 hereditary peers, and he was not one of the 92 who were elected to keep their seats.

In 2003, he became treasurer of the Conservative Party, resigning in 2006 owing to his own financial difficulties, and was formerly a board member of The Conservative Party Foundation.^[3]

On 10 October 2011, Hesketh defected to the UK Independence Party, in response to Prime Minister David Cameron ruling out a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.^[6] During the years 2011/12 Hesketh donated approximately £31,000 to that party.^[7]

Known for his love of motor racing, Hesketh founded Hesketh Racing in 1972, best known for competing in Formula One from 1973 to 1978. The team was famous for its flamboyant and patriotic approach to the sport and for refusing sponsorship. Between 1973 and 1975 the team had some success with the English driver James Hunt, including winning the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix. He later was president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, from 1993 to 2000.

Hesketh formed Hesketh Motorcycles plc. In 1982 a modern purpose built factory was set up to manufacture the Hesketh V1000 motorcycles in Daventry. However, there were numerous problems. The bikes were heavy, made worse by a high riding style; and unreliable, with numerous manufacturing problems adding to an overheating rear cylinder due to lack of air flow. The resultant bad press combined on top of an under-developed bike, lack of cash and a collapsing market meant that after the production of 139 bikes, the company went into receivership. The Triumph Motorcycles co-operative looked at buying the rights to the machine, as they lacked a new model beyond the aged Triumph Bonneville. A V1000 machine even appeared with a Triumph badge on its tank, but Triumph also lacked funding to buy and develop the machine. In 1983, Lord Hesketh formed a new company called Hesleydon Ltd to manufacture a revamped V1000 with a full fairing, called the Vampire. However, although the company had produced a motorcycle with export potential in mind, the Vampire retained too many of the V1000's faults and only 40 were produced before the company closed again in 1984.

In 1994 Hesketh helped set up British Mediterranean Airways (BMED). He also became chairman of the new airline – a role in which he continued until early 2007, when BMED was purchased for £30 million by UK Airline BMI. He subsequently served as an "independent director" of Air Astana, the national carrier of Kazakhstan.^[8]

Hesketh joined the board of Babcock International Group on 6 October 1993, becoming non-executive deputy chairman on 26 April 1996. He was forced to resign in November 2010 after a comment regarding the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers to The Daily Telegraph newspaper, in which he was reported as saying the project would make the country a "laughing stock".^[9]

 

On 21 May 1977, Lord Hesketh married Hon. Claire Georgina Watson, a daughter of Rupert Watson, 3rd Baron Manton and the former Mary Elizabeth Hallinan. Together, they are the parents of three children who use the surname Hesketh day-to-day:^[2]

• Hon. Flora Mary Fermor-Hesketh (born 1981)
• Hon. Sophia Christian Fermor-Hesketh (born 1984)^[10]
• Hon. Frederick Hatton Fermor-Hesketh (born 13 October 1988)

In 2006, Lord Hesketh's financial difficulties forced him to sell the family seat, Easton Neston, at Towcester, Northamptonshire—the only surviving completed house by the English baroque architect Nicholas Hawksmoor—and all furnishings of the house, including even the family portraits.^[11][12] He sold off the estate and Gothic village of Hulcote piecemeal.^[13]

In 1997, Hesketh was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).^{[citation needed]} Hesketh was portrayed by British actor Christian McKay in the 2013 biographical drama Rush.

Coat of arms of Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh

Crest 1st A garb Or banded Azure (Hesketh); 2nd Out of a ducal coronet Or a cock’s head Gules combed and wattled Gold. Escutcheon Quarterly 1st & 4th Argent on a bend Sable three garbs Or (Hesketh); 2nd & 3rd Argent a fess Sable between three lions’ heads erased Gules (Fermor). Supporters On either side a griffin Or gorged with a collar Gules thereon a fleur-de-lis Gold and charged on the shoulder with a rose also Gules barbed and seeded Proper. Motto Hora E Sempre [14]

• Hesketh Motorcycles

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord Hesketh
• Photo of Lord Hesketh Archived 12 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine
• Debrett's People of Today