[1] From 1941 to 1946 he served in World War II in Britain and India in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, gaining the rank of major.

He became involved in business, particularly investing in cane sugar production, with interests in St Kitts and Belize, and in property in the UK.

He was unsuccessful in his attempt to win a seat on the London County Council and stood without success in the 1955 general election in Northampton.

He returned to Parliament as the MP for East Surrey in 1970, and from 1974 until he retired in 1992 for its largely successor seat after boundary changes, Croydon South.

He chaired the Conservative backbench Finance Committee from 1979 until 1992, encouraging Margaret Thatcher to pursue financial stability and free enterprise and defending her policies on television and radio.