Winston Churchill (grandson)
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This article is about the living politician. For his grandfather, the war-time prime minister, see Winston Churchill.
Winston Spencer Churchill (b. London, October 10, 1940), generally known as Winston Churchill, is a British Conservative politician. He was Member of Parliament for Manchester Davyhulme from 1970 until 1997, when the seat was abolished, but did not achieve high office. He is the son of Pamela Harriman and her first husband Randolph Churchill, the only son of the wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill. His cousin Nicholas Soames is a serving Conservative Member of Parliament.
He has been married twice. His frist marriage was to Mary ("Minnie") Caroline d'Erlanger, the daughter of banker Sir Gerard John Regis d'Erlanger, in July 1964. The couple have four children:
- Randolph Spencer Churchill (born 1965)
- Jennie Spencer Churchill (born 1966)
- Marina Spencer Churchill (born 1967)
- Jack Spencer Churchill (born 1975)
However the marriage ended in an acrimonious divorce in 1997 due to his extra-marital relationships, notably with Soraya Khashoggi, former wife of the arms-dealer Adnan Khashoggi. He then married Luce Danielson, the Belgian-born jewellery maker, the same year. His mother's will, however, stipulated that he should share his inheritance with his first wife.
In May 1993 he provoked a row by criticising the "relentless flow" of immigrants to Britain from the Indian subcontinent. He was publicly reprimanded by the home secretary, Michael Howard. The prime minister, John Major, supported Howard's comments.
He also was the subject of controversy in 1995 when he and his family sold a large archive of papers relating to his grandfather for £13.5m. This was funded by a grant from the newly established National Lottery.