David Mitchell (politician)

Sir David Mitchell
Minister of State for Transport
In office 9 January 1986 – 11 June 1987
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Lynda Chalker
Succeeded by	Michael Portillo
Member of Parliament for North West Hampshire
In office 9 June 1983 – 8 April 1997
Preceded by	New constituency
Succeeded by	Sir George Young, Bt
Member of Parliament for Basingstoke
In office 15 October 1964 – 13 May 1983
Preceded by	Denzil Freeth
Succeeded by	Andrew Hunter
Personal details
Born	(1928-06-20)20 June 1928
Died	30 August 2014(2014-08-30) (aged 86)
Political party	Conservative
Relatives	Andrew Mitchell (son)
Occupation	politician and junior minister

Sir David Bower Mitchell (20 June 1928 – 30 August 2014) was a British Conservative politician who was a Member of Parliament for over 30 years, and who served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's government.

Early life

Mitchell was born in the Amersham Rural District in Buckinghamshire, and educated at Aldenham School, Hertfordshire, before becoming a wine shipper and merchant.

Political career

Mitchell served as a councillor on St Pancras Borough Council from 1956 to 1959. He contested St Pancras North in 1959. He was the Member of Parliament for Basingstoke from 1964 to 1983, and for Hampshire North West from 1983 until he retired in 1997. In 1970, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Keith Joseph, Secretary of State for Social Services in the Heath Ministry.

Mitchell served in the Thatcher Ministry as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Industry, 1979–1981, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office, 1981–1983, and then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, 9 June 1983 – 9 January 1986, and Minister of State, 9 January 1986 – 25 July 1988, at the Department of Transport. He was knighted in 1988 upon his resignation from Government.

Family

Mitchell's son Andrew Mitchell is the Member of Parliament for Sutton Coldfield, and served as a minister in the governments of John Major, David Cameron and Rishi Sunak.

Publications

In 2008, Sir David Mitchell published an autobiography entitled "From House to House, The Endless Adventures of Politics & Wine" with The Memoir Club, ISBN 978-1-84104-191-9.