Douglas Dodds-Parker

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Sir Douglas Dodds-Parker
Member of Parliament for Cheltenham
In office 15 October 1964 – 20 September 1974
Preceded by	W. W. Hicks Beach
Succeeded by	Charles Irving
Member of Parliament for Banbury
In office 5 July 1945 – 18 September 1959
Preceded by	Sir James Edmondson
Succeeded by	Neil Marten
Personal details
Born	Arthur Douglas Dodds-Parker (1909-07-05)5 July 1909 Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Died	13 September 2006(2006-09-13) (aged 97) London, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Aileen Coster ​ (m. 1946)​
Children	1
Education	Winchester College
Alma mater	Magdalen College, Oxford

Sir Arthur Douglas Dodds-Parker (5 July 1909 – 13 September 2006) was a British imperial administrator, a wartime soldier involved in irregular warfare, and Conservative politician.

Between the wars, he served in the Sudan, in the prestigious Sudan Political Service. Once the war broke out, he joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE), but was returned to the Sudan to serve in the famous Gideon Force during the liberation of Ethiopia. After the East African campaign, he served on SOE's planning staff in London, before taking command roles in the Mediterranean Theatre.

In political life, he served twice as a Member of Parliament (MP). He was MP for Banbury from 1945 to 1959, holding three junior ministerial positions from 1953 to 1957. In particular, he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs through the Suez Crisis in 1956. Unlike Sir Anthony Nutting, who resigned as Minister of State at the Foreign Office, Dodds-Parker considered it his duty to remain in office even though he did not support the plan for Britain and France to invade Egypt under the pretext of separating the Egyptians from a prearranged invasion by Israel; he was, however, sacked from government in the following year. He stood down from his seat in the House of Commons in 1959, but returned to Parliament as MP for Cheltenham from 1964 to 1974.