Background
EVANS, David John was born on April 23, 1935. Parents: Arthur Evans and Violet Evans.
EVANS, David John was born on April 23, 1935. Parents: Arthur Evans and Violet Evans.
Born in Edmonton in London, Evans came from a working-class background and attended Tottenham Technical College.
As a youngster he showed promise as a football player and cricketer and played for Aston Villa, although without making any first-team appearances, between 1950 and 1954. An opening batsman, he also played for Gloucestershire Commodity Credit Corporation and Warwickshire Commodity Credit Corporation at cricket, although, again, without making any first-team appearances. In 1956 Evans married Janice Masters in Edmonton.
In 1960 Evans borrowed £500 to found his own industrial cleaning company, called Exclusive Office Cleaning, which later became Brengreen Holdings.
He sold this for £32 million in 1986. Four years later, in 1990, he formed Broadreach, another industrial cleaning company, of which he was chairman for 12 years.
From November 1984 to 15 June 1989, Evans was the chairman of Luton Town Football Club. The club played in the Football League First Division during Evans" tenure as chairman, and he presided over a controversial membership-only scheme for fans under which only members were allowed to attend matches at the club"s home ground and away supporters were banned from the stadium.
Evans served on the club"s board of directors from 1976 to 22 May 1990 when he resigned.
As a cricketer, he represented Hertfordshire in the Minor Counties Championship between 1967 and 1968, made two Gillette Cup appearances for the team in 1969, scoring ten runs on his debut but a duck in his second match. He also made two appearances for Club Cricket Conference, the first in 1973 and the second in 1974. After losing his seat in Parliament, he continued to manage his industrial cleaning business, the Broadreach Group, which he sold in May 2002 for around £17 million.
David Evans died on 22 October 2008, of pulmonary fibrosis.
"Scarcely any Guardian or Independent article involving David Evans, former Tory Member of Parliament for Welwyn and Hatfield, failed to mention his car-salesman"s accent, a sound to chill the blood of any liberal—it seemed the incarnation of Thatcherite brutalism.".
Quotations: "Scarcely any Guardian or Independent article involving David Evans, former Tory Member of Parliament for Welwyn and Hatfield, failed to mention his car-salesman"s accent, a sound to chill the blood of any liberal—it seemed the incarnation of Thatcherite brutalism.".
50th United Kingdom Parliament. 51st United Kingdom Parliament]
Evans was also chairman of the Lord"s Taverners, along with being a member of the Finance and Administration Sub-Committee (1981–1986) and a member of the General Committee (1985-1986) of Middlesex Commodity Credit Corporation. Evans represented Welwyn Hatfield as the Conservative Member of Parliament from 1987, until he lost his seat at the 1997 general election.
Spouse Janice Hazel Masters. Children: two son, one d.