Beaminster mourns the loss of its former MP Sir James Spicer

Sitting Conservative MP Oliver Letwin paid tribute to his predecessor.

He said: "Jim was a fighter from first to last - in the army, in agriculture, in Parliament. And he loved West Dorset with a fierce, abiding passion.

"Put those two together, and you had the most pugnacious imaginable defender of our part of the world that you could possibly have hoped for. What's more, he was a lovable, generous-spirited English gent."

Conservative County Councillor Rebecca Knox said he would be much missed.

She said: "It is very sad. We will miss a man who dedicated his life to the people of West Dorset when he was our local Conservative MP.

"But no matter which party or politics a resident had he was always there to help.

"Our thoughts are with his family his daughters and his grandchildren who gave him enormous support in all the work that he and his wife Winfy gave to Beaminster and beyond."

He was the Tory MP for Beaminster from 1974 until 1997. He was also a member of the European Parliament from 1975 to 1984.

As well as his stellar political career, he counted Margaret Thatcher as a personal friend, he was proudest of being a member of the parachute regiment and remained a life-long supporter.

Sir James with Margaret Thatcher

Entertaining the Thatchers at his home in Beaminster

He was also a tireless fundraiser locally, donating proceeds from the sale of his autobiography, printed in 2004, to the Joseph Weld Hospice.

Sir James had originally written the book for his grandchildren, but was persuaded to order a bigger run.

The 200-page book detailed his deep desire to join the army as a child, leading to the lies that helped him enlist early, then his meteoric rise though the ranks before embarking on a distinguished career in politics and business.

Elected as MP for West Dorset, Sir James went on to become the vice-chairman for the Conservative Party. As chairman of the international office, he had face-to-face meetings with many world leaders including Saddam Hussein, Robert Mugabe and the late Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

The former Para major sold the first 50 copies at a regiment reunion in Dover.

"They all bought a copy," he said. "I insisted."

Sir James said when his book was published: “It covers the period from 1925 when I was born, through to now, when I am half alive.

“I worked in a scrap metal yard, before I went into the army at 16 and changed my age. I was commissioned at 18, and into the parachute regiment. After Suez, which I disapproved strongly of, I came out.”

The front cover was illustrated with a picture of Sir James celebrating his 70th birthday by swimming in the Thames next to the Houses of Parliament. He raised just under £19,000 for Water Aid and Macmillan Cancer Relief from the stunt.

He was always a keen swimmer and worked tirelessly for the Beaminster Community Swimming pool.

He was a hard man to say no to – a fact he shamelessly took advantage of for the causes he believed in.

When he resigned his commission in army he moved with his beloved wife, ‘Winfy’, to Beaminster, where they farmed before the siren call of politics took him to Westminster.

Sir James at the funeral of his beloved wife in 2010

He was devoted to his wife Lady Winifred Spicer, who died aged 83 in 2010.

She met Sir James while she was working at Hatchards bookshop and he was over from Egypt to lead the parachute regiment during the Coronation and be best man at a friend’s wedding.

Sir James said he knew immediately she was the woman for him and two weeks later was even asking a vicar he met in a pub if he could marry them.

He couldn’t, but even going abroad again didn’t deter him and a courtship by correspondence followed.

They were married in the Tower of London on January 30, 1954.

He said: “She married a soldier who became a third-rate farmer and then a politician.

“I couldn’t have lived without her, she was marvellous.

“When I made an ill-advised speech about the IRA she had to have a panic button. I don’t know many wives who put up with that.”