John Pardoe

Early life and education

John Pardoe was the son of Cuthbert B. Pardoe and Marjorie E. W. (née Taylor). He attended King's College School, Cambridge, and was a chorister in the Choir of King's College, Cambridge.

He then went to Sherborne School, a boarding independent school for boys in Sherborne, Dorset, followed by Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was active in the Footlights drama club; one critic of their 1955 revue panned future comedian Jonathan Miller, whilst predicting a bold comedic future for Pardoe. He gained an MA at Cambridge.

Political career

In the 1964 general election, Pardoe unsuccessfully stood as the Liberal candidate against Margaret Thatcher in Finchley. In the 1966 election, he captured the North Cornwall seat from the Conservative Party's James Scott-Hopkins. He rapidly became the party's Economic Affairs spokesman and was respected for the intellect of his views, if not for the often partisan nature of his comments. Pardoe was Treasurer of the Liberal Party from 1968 to 1969.

In the 1960s, he was a member of Mebyon Kernow as well as the Liberal Party. In the 1976 Liberal Party leadership election after Jeremy Thorpe's resignation, Pardoe was a candidate, losing to David Steel, who received 12,541 votes to Pardoe's 7,032.

He played the fairy-tale Liberal prime minister in BBC Radio 4's Christmas pantomime Black Cinderella Two Goes East in 1978. At 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 general election of 1987, Pardoe served as campaign manager of the SDP–Liberal Alliance.