Nicholas Soames

The Lord Soames of Fletching
Official portrait, 2017
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
In office
6 November 2003 – 10 May 2005
LeaderMichael Howard
Preceded byBernard Jenkin
Succeeded byThe Marquess of Lothian
Minister of State for the Armed Forces
In office
20 July 1994 – 2 May 1997
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byJeremy Hanley
Succeeded byJohn Reid
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office
14 April 1992 – 20 July 1994
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byDavid Maclean
Succeeded byAngela Browning
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
28 October 2022
Life peerage
Member of Parliament
for Mid Sussex
In office
1 May 1997 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byTim Renton
Succeeded byMims Davies
Member of Parliament
for Crawley
In office
9 June 1983 – 8 April 1997
Preceded byPeter Hordern (Horsham and Crawley)
Succeeded byLaura Moffatt
Personal details
Born
Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames

(1948-02-12) 12 February 1948 (age 76)
Croydon, Surrey, England
Political partyConservative[a]
Spouses
Catherine Weatherall
(m. 1981; div. 1988)
Serena Smith
(m. 1993)
Children3
Parent(s)Christopher Soames
Mary Churchill
RelativesWinston Churchill (grandfather)
Emma Soames (sister)
Rupert Soames (brother)
EducationEton College
Alma materMons Officer Cadet School
WebsiteOfficial website
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1967–1975
RankSecond lieutenant
Unit11th Hussars
Royal Hussars
  1. ^ Whip suspended from 3 September 2019 to 29 October 2019.

Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames, Baron Soames of Fletching, PC (born 12 February 1948) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Sussex from 1997 to 2019, having previously served as the MP for Crawley from 1983 to 1997.

Soames was Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 1994 to 1997 in the government of John Major. He had the whip removed on 3 September 2019, for voting against the government, before it was restored on 29 October. His main political interests are defence, international relations, rural affairs and industry. He is a grandson of former prime minister Winston Churchill.