Personal Life
Soames was born in Croydon and is a grandson of British wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, the son of Lord and Lady Soames, a nephew of the former Defence Secretary Duncan Sandys, Diana Churchill, the journalist Randolph Churchill and the actress and dancer Sarah Churchill and a great-nephew of the founders of the Scout movement, Robert Baden-Powell and Olave Baden-Powell. His brother is the industrialist Rupert Soames.
He has been married twice. His first marriage (1981–1988) was to Catherine Weatherall (the sister of Isobel Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne), by whom he has one son, Harry Soames. He married, secondly, Serena Smith (a niece of the Duchess of Grafton) in 1993. They have one son, and a daughter called Isabella Soames.
ROAD SAFETY RECORD
On 15 May 2008 Soames was disqualified from driving for two months, fined £200 and was ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and costs of £35 by Crawley magistrates after he pleaded guilty to riding a quad bike on a public road without insurance.
A photograph of Soames driving with passengers who included three children and a pregnant woman, was taken from footage filmed by hunt saboteurs in Slaugham, West Sussex, on New Year's Day. It was given to the police and published by the Daily Mirror.
In 2012 he was disqualified from driving for speeding 51mph in a 30mph residential area in Handcross. Soames was fined £666, with £85 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge and banned for 2 weeks. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nicholas-soames-conservative-mps-boast-1401550. In the Argus, a Sussex paper, describes him as an 'anti-speed MP' http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10010379.___Anti_speed____Sussex_MP_tells_of_shame_at_totting_ban/ According to the Argus, it was 'the third time he has been caught flouting traffic laws in four years'.After the ruling at Mid Sussex Magistrates’ Court on 17 October 2012, the Mid Sussex Conservative MP told The Argus: “These things happen. Haven’t you ever gone over the speed limit?” The speeding incident angered road safety campaigners, BRAKE, the road safety charity said “Speed limits are in place for everyone’s safety, and it is particularly alarming to see a public figure like Nicholas Soames repeatedly flouting traffic laws and needlessly putting lives at risk.“A two-week ban and a £666 fine is simply not enough, and we would like to see courts hand out tougher penalties to traffic offenders in order to create a real deterrent.”
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