Michael Grylls

Sir William Michael John Grylls, known as Michael Grylls, (21 February 1934—7 February 2001) was a British Conservative politician.

Sir Michael was educated at St. Ronan's School, Hawkhurst, the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and at the Universities of Paris and Madrid. From 1952 - 1955 he served with the Royal Marines, after which he became a wine and tobacco importer. He served as a councillor on St. Pancras Borough Council and was elected to the Greater London Council for the Cities of London and Westminster 1967-70. Grylls also a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron until his death in 2001; his widow remains an honorary member.

He married Sally Ford (daughter of Patricia Ford, Lady Fisher) and had one daughter and one son, Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls, who is most recognised as the host of Born Survivor (Man vs. Wild in the U.S.).

Grylls was an unsuccessful candidate in the Fulham constituency in both 1964 and 1966. At the 1970 general election, he was returned to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Chertsey. His seat was abolished in boundary changes, but he was returned to Parliament for the new Surrey North West constituency in the February 1974 general election. He represented this constituency until his retirement at the 1997 election.

He was knighted in 1992.

As he was preparing to retire from the House of Commons in 1997, Grylls found himself among those criticised by the inquiry into the "cash for questions" scandal which had engulfed the Conservatives in the run-up to the general election.

For some years he had acted as a consultant to the lobbying company run by Ian Greer. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Sir Gordon Downey, stated that Grylls had "seriously misled" the select committee on members' interests in 1990 by understating the number of payments he had received for introducing clients to ministers. Grylls's conduct, said Sir Gordon, had fallen "below the standards the House is entitled to expect of its members".

Sources

• Times Guide to the House of Commons, Times Newspapers Limited, 1992 edition.
• Michael Grylls obituary, The Guardian.