Christopher Sykes was an English Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1892.
Background
Sykes was the second son of Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet and his wife Mary Ann Foulis, daughter of Sir William Foulis, 7th Baronet. His father was a popular horse breeder who bred bloodstock. However, he was an authoritarian father who bullied his children.
Education
Sykes was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge.
Career
He began mixing with London"s great and good and became a connoisseur of books, china and furniture. He was a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for the East Riding of Yorkshire. At the 1868 general election he was elected Member of Parliament for the East Riding of Yorkshire.
He held this seat until 1885, when it was divided under the Redistribution of Seats Acting 1885, and was then elected for Buckrose, one of the constituencies into which his previous constituency had been divided.
He held the seat until 1892. Between 1868 and 1892, he made only six speeches, and did not speak on any particular issue except in favour of a bill for the preservation of seabirds, earning him the nickname Gull"s Friend.
He was considered to be the basis for the character "Mr Brauncepath" in Lothair the novel by Benjamin Disraeli. He was honoured with the Order of Saint Lazarus of Belgium in 1879.
The Prince was entertained in great splendour at Brantingham Thorpe, Sykes" country house in Yorkshire, during the Doncaster Races, and at his London home in Berkeley Square.
The Prince exploited his friend and subjected him to humiliations, for example, on one occasion, poured a decanter of brandy over his head However, Sykes"s lavish entertainment of the Marlborough House Secretariat soon put a strain on his finances. Nearly bankrupted in 1890, Sykes was forced to sell both Brantingham Thorpe and his London home.
At a general election two years later, he lost his parliamentary seat.
Membership
19th United Kingdom Parliament. 20th United Kingdom Parliament. 21st United Kingdom Parliament.
22nd United Kingdom Parliament.
23rd United Kingdom Parliament. 24th United Kingdom Parliament]
At the 1865 general election Sykes was elected Conservative Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for Beverley.