Christopher Soames, 1968–72

Abstract

Christopher Soames was not a typical ambassador. Winston Churchill’s son-in-law, a former Member of Parliament and a former Conservative Cabinet minister, he had little diplomatic experience, but a great deal of political savoir faire. He was hence an unusual choice, especially for a Labour government, selected for an unusual moment in Anglo- French relations when, in the wake of two Gaullist vetoes, France was perceived as the main obstacle lying between the United Kingdom and the principal foreign policy objective of the British government, namely attaining membership of the European Economic Community (EEC). He was thus, to a very unusual extent, a single issue ambassador - an envoy appointed for a particular mission whose record as ambassador would stand or fall on the basis of how he fared on the EEC dossier. As Michael Palliser, who as foreign policy advisor to Harold Wilson had been closely involved with the appointment of Soames, recalled: ‘he had gone to Paris basically with one purpose; to do what he could to get us into, or help get us into, the European Community’.¹ This chapter will begin with an exploration of the circumstances in which he was appointed and the hopes surrounding his mission, say a little about his somewhat atypical manner of operation as ambassador, before then turning to the seemingly disastrous beginning of his time in Paris with the February 1969 Soames affair.