Sir Anthony Stuart Garner (28 January 1927 – 22 March 2015) was a political organiser for the British Conservative Party.

Sir Anthony Garner
Born28 January 1927
Died22 March 2015(2015-03-22) (aged 88)
EducationLiverpool College
OccupationPolitical activist
Parent(s)Edward Garner
Dorothy May

Early life

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Anthony Garner was born on 28 February 1927 in Liverpool, England.[1][2] He was educated at Liverpool College.[1]

Career

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Garner first worked for the Conservative Party as an organiser for the Young Conservatives in Yorkshire in 1948.[1] He revived the membership by organising fundraising weekends at Filey Holiday Camp.[1] By 1951, he became a Conservative Party agent in Halifax, West Yorkshire.[1] He worked on the campaigns of Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan in 1959 and Sir Alec Douglas-Home in 1964.[2]

Later, he worked as an agent for London at the Conservative Central Office.[1] He served as the Director of Organisation from 1976 to 1988.[3] In this capacity, he was instrumental in putting the local organisation in place that ensured that Margaret Thatcher won the elections of 1979, 1983 and 1987.[2] He escaped unscathed from the Brighton hotel bombing.[1]

He served as the Director of Campaigning from 1992 to 1998.[1] He was a co-founder of Conservatives Abroad.[1]

He later worked as a lobbyist, co-founder and Chairman of the British-Iranian Chamber of Commerce.[2] He also served on the Boards of Directors of the Carroll Anglo-American group, the Carroll Aircraft Corporation and the Farnborough Aerospace Development Corporation.[2]

He served as a Governor of his alma mater, Liverpool College, and as President of the Old Lerpoolian Association.[1][2] He received a knighthood in 1984.[1]

Personal life

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He married Shirley Taylor in 1967[1] They had two sons, Christopher and David[1]

Death

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He died on 22 March 2015.[1][2] He was eighty-eight years old.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Sir Anthony Garner, The Times, 14 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Sir Anthony Garner, political organiser - obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 14 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  3. ^ Anthony Seldon, Stuart Ball, Conservative century: the Conservative Party since 1900, Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 188 [1]