John Benedict Eden, Baron Eden of Winton, (15 September 1925 – 23 May 2020), known as Sir John Eden, 9th Baronet, from 1963 to 1983, was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Bournemouth West from 1954 to 1983.
Contents
Background
Eden was the son of Sir Timothy Eden, 8th Baronet and Edith Mary Prendergast. He was educated at Eton College and St Paul's School, New Hampshire, in the US. He served as a Lieutenant with the Rifle Brigade, 2nd Gurkha Rifles and the Gilgit Scouts during the Second World War. He was a nephew of Sir Anthony Eden (1897–1977), who served as prime minister from 1955 to 1957, and he succeeded his father Sir Timothy Calvert Eden to his baronetcies in 1963. He was the 9th Baronet of West Auckland and the 7th Baronet of Maryland.
Career
After unsuccessfully contesting the 1953 Paddington North by-election, Eden was first elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Bournemouth West at the 1954 Bournemouth West by-election, which he would continue to represent from 1954 until 1983. When first elected, he was the Baby of the House, the youngest member of the House of Commons. He was appointed to the Privy Council on 10 April 1972 and was created a life peer as Baron Eden of Winton, of Rushyford in the County of Durham on 3 October 1983, following his retirement from the House of Commons. He retired from the House of Lords on 11 June 2015 under the provisions of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014. Following the death of Lord Healey on 3 October 2015, Eden became the oldest surviving former MP with the earliest date of first election.