Editing Nicholas Soames (section)

{{Short description|British politician (born 1948)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]<!--Do NOT insert a paragraph break; and do not link per MOS:OVERLINK-->
| name                = The Lord Soames of Fletching
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|PC}}
| image               = Official portrait of Sir Nicholas Soames crop 2.jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 2017
| office              = [[Shadow Secretary of State for Defence]]
| leader              = [[Michael Howard]]
| term_start          = 6 November 2003
| term_end            = 10 May 2005
| predecessor         = [[Bernard Jenkin]]
| successor           = [[Michael Ancram|The Marquess of Lothian]]
| office1             = [[Minister of State for the Armed Forces]]
| primeminister1      = [[John Major]]
| term_start1         = 20 July 1994
| term_end1           = 2 May 1997
| predecessor1        = [[Jeremy Hanley]]
| successor1          = [[John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan|John Reid]]
| office2             = [[Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom)|Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food]]
| primeminister2      = [[John Major]]
| term_start2         = 14 April 1992
| term_end2           = 20 July 1994
| predecessor2        = [[David Maclean]]
| successor2          = [[Angela Browning]]
| office3             = [[Member of the House of Lords]]<br/>[[Lord Temporal]]
| term_start3         = 28 October 2022<br>[[Life peerage]]
| term_end3           = 
| office4             = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Mid Sussex (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Sussex]]
| term_start4         = 1 May 1997
| term_end4           = 6 November 2019
| predecessor4        = [[Tim Renton]]
| successor4          = [[Mims Davies]]
| majority4           = 
| office5             = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Crawley (UK Parliament constituency)|Crawley]]
| term_start5         = 9 June 1983
| term_end5           = 8 April 1997
| predecessor5        = [[Peter Hordern (politician)|Peter Hordern]] {{small|([[Horsham and Crawley]])}}
| successor5          = [[Laura Moffatt]]
| birth_name          = Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1948|2|12|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Croydon]], [[Surrey]], England
| party               = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]{{efn|Whip suspended from 3 September 2019 to 29 October 2019.}}
| otherparty          = 
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Catherine Weatherall<br />|1981|1988|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Serena Smith <br />|1993}}
}}
| children            = 3
| parents             = [[Christopher Soames]]<br />[[Mary Churchill]]
| relatives           = [[Winston Churchill]] (grandfather)<br /> [[Emma Soames]] (sister)<br />[[Rupert Soames]] (brother)
| alma_mater          = [[Mons Officer Cadet School]]
| website             = {{url|nicholassoames.org.uk|Official website}}
| education           = [[Eton College]]
| allegiance          = United Kingdom
| branch              = [[British Army]]
| serviceyears        = 1967–1975
| rank                = [[Second lieutenant]]
| unit                = [[11th Hussars]]<br />[[Royal Hussars]]
| footnotes           = {{notelist}}
}}
'''Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames, Baron Soames of Fletching''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|PC}} (born 12 February 1948) is a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician who served as the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Mid Sussex (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Sussex]] from [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]] to [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019]], having previously served as the MP for [[Crawley (UK Parliament constituency)|Crawley]] from [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]] to 1997.

Soames was [[Minister of State for the Armed Forces]] from 1994 to 1997 in the government of [[John Major]]. He had the [[2019 suspension of rebel Conservative MPs|whip removed on 3 September 2019]], for voting against the government, before it was restored on 29 October. His main political interests are [[defense (military)|defence]], [[international relations]], [[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|rural affairs]] and [[Industrial sector|industry]]. He is a grandson of former prime minister [[Winston Churchill]].