British conservative minister appointed by Thatcher

The former British Conservative minister Sir David Mitchell, who has died aged 86, played a small but important part in the history of his party by acting as a link man behind the scenes in the run-up to Margaret Thatcher's election as Tory leader in 1975.

He was the parliamentary private secretary to Sir Keith Joseph, initially the favoured candidate among right-wing MPs to succeed Edward Heath, and it was Mitchell who reported privately to the party chief whip that Joseph would not stand, but would propose Thatcher instead.

Mitchell was subsequently rewarded by Thatcher, in whom she recognised someone who shared the instinctive enthusiasm for small businesses which so shaped her own politics.

Knighthood

In 1979 Thatcher appointed him in her first government as minister for small businesses, with the Grantham grocery very much in mind. He remained in ministerial office until 1988 and left with a compensatory knighthood. He retired in 1997 after 33 years in the House of Commons, as MP for Basingstoke in

Hampshire

.

Mitchell was the joint proprietor with his brother, Christopher, of the renowned family wine business, El Vino, in Fleet Street, which had been founded by his grandfather, Sir Alfred Bower, a former lord mayor of London. Even after becoming an MP he remained involved with the company, except during his years as a minister.

The irascible journalist, Paul Johnson, was once observed banging a walking stick on the floor to gain the attention of those drinking at the bar and then demanding: “Do you realise one of the waiters here is a Tory MP?” Because El Vino maintained a strict rule – until forced by law to change it in 1982 – forbidding women to enter the establishment in trousers or to drink at the bar, he also incurred the wrath of one of his ministerial colleagues, Lynda (now Lady) Chalker. She visited the premises on one occasion to tick him off in person, but did not stay longer than to hear him acknowledge sadly that he knew that “life was changing”.

Popular

Cheerful and charming, Mitchell was a popular MP. He related with glee how he had once canvassed an army wife constituent on her doorstep and had been overheard saying: “Aren’t you beautiful? Aren’t you gorgeous? I’d love to take you home,” by an outraged husband who did not immediately realise he was addressing the family’s red setter. In the foreword to his memoirs, Matthew Parris described Mitchell as the “tonic to Margaret Thatcher’s gin”.

David Mitchell was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, the son of James, a naval architect, and Mona (née Bower). He went to Aldenham, a minor public school in Hertfordshire, and worked in farming until 1950 before moving to the wine business. Elected to parliament in 1964, he made his maiden speech on Polaris and the need for nuclear deterrence. Edward Heath appointed him an opposition whip.

In 1954 he married Pamela Haward, with whom he had two sons, Andrew and Graham, and a daughter, Suki. He separated from his wife in 1990 and she died in 2005. He overlapped for 10 years in the Commons with his son Andrew, the former Tory chief whip and still an MP.