John Pardoe


John Wentworth Pardoe is a retired British businessman and Liberal Party politician.

Education

Pardoe attended King's College School, Cambridge where he was a chorister in the Choir of King's College, Cambridge. He then went to Sherborne School, a boarding independent school for boys in the market town of Sherborne in Dorset, followed by Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was active in the famous Footlights drama club; one critic of their 1955 revue panned future comedian Jonathan Miller whilst predicting a bold comedic future for Pardoe.

Liberal Party

In the 1964 general election, Pardoe stood as the Liberal candidate against Margaret Thatcher in Finchley. In the 1966 election, the Liberal Party increased its number of MPs from nine to twelve: one of them was Pardoe, who captured the North Cornwall seat from the Conservative Party's James Scott-Hopkins. He rapidly became the party's Economic Affairs spokesman in parliament and was respected for the intellect of his views, if not for the often partisan nature of his comments.
In 1976, after the resignation of Jeremy Thorpe, Pardoe was a candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party. He lost to David Steel, who received 12,541 votes to Pardoe's 7,032.
In 1978, John Pardoe MP played the fairy-tale Liberal prime minister in BBC Radio 4's Christmas Pantomime, Black Cinderella Two Goes East, on the basis that Liberal prime ministers exist only in fairy tales.
In the 1979 general election, he lost his seat, possibly because of his outspoken support for neighbouring MP Jeremy Thorpe, who was then about to stand trial at the Old Bailey for conspiracy and incitement to murder.
In the general election of 1987, Pardoe served as campaign manager of the SDP-Liberal Alliance.
In the 1960s, John Pardoe was a member of Mebyon Kernow as well as the Liberal Party.