I was sad to read last night that former Tory MP Stefan Terlezki has died at the age of 78. He sat for a seat in Cardiff during the 1983-87 Parliament. Stefan was a Ukrainian exile, whose bravery during the Second World War was chronicled in his recently published autobiography, From War to Westminster. He retained his strong accent and the last time I saw him was at last year's Tory conference where he was as pleased as punch to do a booksigning. The Guardian carries an obituary today, which you can read HERE.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Former Tory MP Dies
I was sad to read last night that former Tory MP Stefan Terlezki has died at the age of 78. He sat for a seat in Cardiff during the 1983-87 Parliament. Stefan was a Ukrainian exile, whose bravery during the Second World War was chronicled in his recently published autobiography, From War to Westminster. He retained his strong accent and the last time I saw him was at last year's Tory conference where he was as pleased as punch to do a booksigning. The Guardian carries an obituary today, which you can read HERE.
I lived in Cardiff for a couple of years and the election of a Tory MP in a place like Cardiff West should probably rank among the great political upsets. It was mostly down to Labour's "suicide note" manifesto and local splits between Labour and the SDP but I'm sure some credit should also go to Terlezki himself.
ReplyDeleteIt was probably also due in some measure to the incompetence of Labour in failing to select a candidate for Cardiff West until Parliament was actually dissolved!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Terlezki was a nice man and a consientious MP, but Rhodri Morgan beat him quite convincingly in 1987.
Great man and loyal Conservative.
ReplyDeleteHe will be sadly missed.