Denzil Freeth

Who was Denzil Freeth?

Denzil Kingston Freeth MBE was a British Conservative politician.

Born in the Paddington, London, Freeth was educated at Sherborne School and then served in the Royal Air Force. In 1946, he went up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was Member of Parliament for Basingstoke from 1955 until he stood down in 1964. He then worked as a stockbroker.

Freeth asked the first ever question about deafblind people in the House of Commons in 1964, when he asked the Government, local authorities, and the public to give people with the condition more attention and support.

Freeth served for nearly 20 years as a Churchwarden of the leading London Anglo-Catholic Church, All Saints, Margaret Street.

According to Michael McManus's book on the history of Conservative attitudes to homosexuality, Freeth was a gay man. His homosexuality had been discovered by Lord Denning who, in the wake of the Profumo Affair, had been tasked by prime minister Harold Macmillan with identifying other ministers who might be 'security risks'. Denning's discovery apparently resulted in Freeth being asked to give up his seat in 1964.