Lord Boothby, 86; A Record 62 Years in Parliament

Lord Boothby, a colorful maverick who spent much of his record 62 years in Parliament telling other Conservatives things they did not want to hear, died Wednesday in a London hospital. He was 86.

The former aide to Winston Churchill was admitted to Westminster Hospital on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack.

In addition to his long service in Parliament, the gravel-voiced peer--born Robert John Graham Boothby--became well known to Britons as a commentator on television and radio.

Elected in 1924

Boothby entered the House of Commons in 1924 and remained a member until he was given a life peerage in 1958. He then went to the House of Lords as Baron Boothby of Buchan and Rattray Head and served until his death, setting a record for combined tenure.

The burly politician’s highest office was as parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of Food, now known as the Agriculture Ministry.

He took stands highly unpopular for a Conservative on prewar appeasement, the Suez crisis and economic issues, and championed causes generally avoided by his colleagues, such as the reform of laws on homosexuality and abortion.

Boothby was the son of banker Sir Robert Boothby of Beechwood, Edinburgh, and was educated at Eton and Oxford University’s Magdalen College.

He was Churchill’s parliamentary private secretary from 1926 to 1929.

In one favorite story, he recalled visiting Adolf Hitler in prewar days.

As he crossed the floor of Hitler’s office, the German dictator shot up his right arm in greeting and shouted: “Hitler.” Boothby then raised his own right arm and boomed out: “Boothby.”

Accuses Churchill

In 1978, he granted a series of interviews to promote the publication of his memoirs. He told reporters that Churchill had been drunk on many important occasions and also branded him a “cruel man.”

The accusations set off a furious flurry of newspaper letters, most of which minimized Boothby’s import to the late prime minister.

Boothby once advocated euthanasia for everybody at the age of 80, but at 81 said he was glad that the bill did not get anywhere as he was “enjoying being an old man.”